![]() ![]() Oskar, and by extension, the filmmakers, assign a meaningless task with absurd importance. This is the kind of logic Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close operates on. And he does this all by himself, obviously thinking it’s safe for a nine year old to wander New York alone. Of course, he can’t take public transport and thus walks dozens of miles around the city every day. He assumes Black is a name and heads off over all of the five bureaus of New York to find the secret to the key. Since Oskar is obsessive, he determines to find out what the key unlocks. A year after his father’s death, Oskar is going through his father’s closet and discovers a key with the word Black posted on it. ![]() His father, played in flashbacks by Tom Hanks, dies during 9/11. He probably has Asperger’s syndrome, although the diagnosis is unconfirmed - but more on that later. Thomas Horn plays Oskar Schell, our child protagonist. Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close is a mess, and its infuriatingly precocious child protagonist is the main reason why. It’d stand to reason then, that the one prominent film featuring a child protagonist that was nominated for Best Picture would be the best of the lot. ![]() Luckily, 2011 was actually a great year for films featuring children, with Super 8, Attack the Block, Monsieur Lazhar and I Wish allshowing just how effective a convincing child performance can be. This is because most filmmakers just don’t understand children. I always belabour the point of how difficult it is to get children right on film. ![]()
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