“I loved having a dad who was smarter than the New York Times, and I loved how my cheek could feel the hairs on his chest through his t-shirt, and how he always smelled like shaving, even at the end of the day. Being with him made my brain quiet. I didn’t have to invent a thing.”
Nine-year-old Oskar Schell has a mind that is always spewing out great inventions– mini microphones for people’s hearts, mood-detecting shower heads, gigantic pants pockets in which people can carry their most-cherished items. But the one thing Oskar’s mind has not been able to conjure up is a way to bring his father back.
Tugging at the heartstrings of post-9/11 audiences, “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close” documents the grief and confusion that engulfs Oskar Schell, whose father died in the World Trade Center attacks. As Oskar embarks on his journey to find the lock that matches his father’s key, one of the final remaining connections to his father, readers and viewers are granted with a unique inside look at the events and consequences of September 11th from a victim’s family’s point of view.
Written by the immensely impressive contemporary author, Jonathan Safran Foer, the novel “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close” is a moving, thought-provoking book that catches a rare glimpse into the thoughts of an entire family dealing with the sudden and tragic loss of an irreplacable husband, son, and most importantly, father. With his complete rebellion against accepted grammar rules, his run-on sentences and one-paragraph chapters, and his photographs and doodles, Safran Foer throws caution to the wind and constructs a peculiar, unexpectedly remarkable tale that pastes smiles on readers’ faces even in the midst of such a sorrowful story.
Just as sorrowful yet enchanting, the film version of “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close” surprisingly does the novel justice. Superstars Tom Hanks and Sandra Bullock draw in audiences with their small but impactful roles as Oskar’s parents. It is Thomas Horn, however, who completely astounds in his very first on-screen role as Oskar. Discovered on Jeopardy’s Kids’ Week in 2010, Horn gives a surreal, emotional performance as a grieving, tambourine-clutching nine-year-old with a mild form of autism. The world can only hope to see Horn in many more movies to come.
Besides the few loose ends that remain untied, the only disappointing aspect of the movie was, like most book-adapted films, a great deal of the novel was left out. The story of Oskar’s grandparents’ lives was told for practically half of the novel, and it was sorely missed in the Hollywood movie. But this is good news for audiences who typically enjoy reading a book before seeing the movie but did not get a chance to read this book beforehand. The movie does not completely ruin everything in the book, so even after watching the movie, the book would still be an extremely enjoyable read.
The story of “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close” is a precious reminder to be thankful for this short life and the special people in it because they might be gone tomorrow. Both the novel and the film are captivating and inspiring, but audiences will surely finish the story with “heavy boots.”
“Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close” has been nominated for Best Picture for the 84th Academy Awards. Max von Sydow has also been nominated for Best Actor in a Supporting Role (without uttering a single word in the movie) for his portrayal of “the renter.” The show airs on Feb. 26 on ABC at 7 p.m.
Carol Fritz is a third-year student majoring in communication studies. She can be reached at CF716022@wcupa.edu.