Review of Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (2011) by Andre W — 07 Jul 2014

So I wasn't quite sure what to expect going into this. The reviews for it were fairly bad but it got nominated for an Oscar, so I figured it was worth a shot; it couldn't be that bad.

The story is about a child who's father died during 9/11. A year later he finds a key in his father's closet and he then begins a quest throughout NY to figure out what the key opens. This story sounds very noble and poetic right? Except that it isn't executed very well. As the film progressed, I found the plot more and more implausible. While the second half does have some strong moments, it wasn't enough to redeem the film as a whole. Watching this felt like a chore and that's never good.

I think the film lost me in the first half as I found the child actor to be very annoying and pompous (even considering the fact he lost his father, it was still really over the top). The supporting characters were mostly overly emotional and dramatic, except Max Von Sydow who gave a subtle, yet strong performance and was the sole bright spot of the film for me. At the end of the day, most of the emotional moments didn't really resonate for me and felt forced. Given that's more or less the goal of the film, it was disappointing.

Overall I found the film to be a little depressing, very boring, manipulative and a bit too long. The ending wasn't satisfying at all and it felt like the story didn't really go anywhere. It's Best Picture nomination was completely undeserved and it should have gone to a film like Shame, Drive or A Better Life. Take a pass on this one, not worth watching.