MOVIE REVIEW: 'Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close' emotionally raw, gracefully moving

Rarely do I stray so far and so strongly from the American critical consensus, but "Extremely Loud" is the kind of emotionally raw, gracefully moving Hollywood filmmaking that I personally can't -- and don't -- get enough of. "Extremely Loud" looks directly at the emotional void left in the world's heart after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, by focusing on a young boy, Oscar, whose father was killed in the Towers' collapse. Oscar is an 11-year-old curiosity, one whose Asperger's both bolsters his considerable intelligence and impairs his social capabilities, to say the least. Flashbacks reveal an intimate relationship between Oscar and his father, one marked by activites as varied as kung-fu, alliteration competitions and city-wide scavenger hunts. When his father is taken from him, Oscar's life is shattered, leaving him alone with his mother (played by Sandra Bullock). Oscar is convinced that his father had left him one final message, and when he stumbles upon a mysterious key in his closet, he sets off on a quest to find what the key fits and why his father wanted him to unlock it. He's aided frequently by an elderly man, who, for reasons initially unknown, will not speak. Thomas Horn, the doe-eyed actor who plays Oscar, may be the film's weakest asset. While convincingly portraying Oscar's mental and social tics, Horn may as well have gone through the film with a T-shirt exclaimed, "I, Sir, Am An Actor!" It's a performance rich with feeling and love, but one about as far from subtle as humanly possible. Continued...影视帝国最新热片 韩国热片 悬疑电视剧