Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

EXTREMELY LOUD & INCREDIBLY CLOSE (12)

D: Stephen Daldry

Warner Bros. (Scott Rudin)

USA 🇺🇸 2011

124 mins

Drama

W: Eric Roth [based on the novel by Jonathan Safran Foer]

DP: Chris Menges

Ed: Claire Simpson

Mus: Alexandre Desplat

PD: K. K. Barrett

Thomas Horn (Oskar Schell), Tom Hanks (Thomas Schell), Sandra Bullock (Linda Schell), Max Von Sydow (The Renter), Viola Davis (Abby Black), John Goodman (Stan)

Those expecting to see a Tom Hanks film may be extremely loud and incredibly cheesed-off, the A-lister is barely in this picture, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, the film has enough merits of its own.

This is the first mainstream Hollywood project to really deal with the subject of Asperger's Syndrome, starring Thomas Horn as the young boy with the ASD (Autistic Spectrum Disorder). Following his father's death in the 9/11 attacks, the boy is convinced that his father's messages and a mystery key left him a challenge to discover and he goes on a quest to find out what the key opens. On his journey, he meets and touches the lives of a number of strangers, including the mysterious "Renter", an elderly mute excellently played by Max Von Sydow and together they unlock a secret more valuable than any fabled treasure.

Although he delivers a good performance, the casting of Tom Hanks seemed a little pointless due to his lack of screen time. It seems that perhaps the producers didn't have enough faith in the story and needed a big name in the credits to ensure success. The rest of the cast do an absolutely fine job.

7/10