Reason Writers at the Movies: Peter Suderman Reviews Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Associate Editor Peter Suderman reviews Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, an adaptation of Jonathan Safran Foer's novel about a young boy dealing with the death of his father in the World Trade Center on 9/11, in today's Washington Times:

It almost doesn't matter whether "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" is a good movie or a bad one. It's a 9/11 movie, so how one reacts will inevitably hinge to some extent on individual feelings about the terrorist attacks that stunned and shocked Americans a decade ago.

As it happens, "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" is not a good movie, despite some strong performances. Instead, it's something of an ungainly misfire—an unfortunate, occasionally enraging, mix of Hollywood treacle and twee Brooklyn literary gimmickry.

Whole thing here.

Read Reason's Nick Gillespie on why art failed us after 9/11. 

Comments

[Almanian]

It's a good thing they didn't cast Mark Wahlberg in "Extremely/Incredibly" - he'd have shut that production down before it ever happened.

/celebrity current events

[Episiarch]

Let's see: 9/11 + Tom Hanks + Sandra Bullock = unbelievably shitty emotionally manipulative garbage that will insult you while trying to manipulate you.

Pass.

[PS]

Wilson!!!

[Dagny T.]

You don't want to sit amongst weepy middle aged women and people who are still obsessed with 9/11 while Tom Hanks dispenses warm, fatherly wisdom from beyond the grave? Fool!

[Daniel]

Even the commercials are completely unconvincing. If you can't make a 1.5hr movie look decent in 30 seconds, you don't have shit to work with. Even those brief introductions to the movie are manipulative.
Who wants to pay to be manipulated like that? That's what strippers are for and then, at least, you get to see some tits.

[Zeb]

Who wants to pay to be manipulated like that?

Apparently a lot of people do. It seems to be the basis of much of the movie industry.

[cynical]

Mawkish melodrama is for women what tits are for men, maybe?

[Fist of Etiquette]

Transformers 4: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, starring Tom Hanks as Hitlerbot Prime. That's a movie I'd go see.

When was the last time Hanks made a bad movie?

[Episiarch]

Splash?

[Fist of Etiquette]

I haven't seen the The Da Vinci Code or the other one but that haircut alone suggests they might be in contention.

[Pro Libertate]

My mom bought me the book. I made it to page 20, because, well, she's my mom. Then I hurled it across the room. One of my boys likes it, and I'm always saying "It sucks ass!" then remember that getting him to read even crap beats him reading nothing at all and say, "Well, tastes differ, I suppose."

[PS]

At the time I had aspirations of being a professional writer, so I tried to read it--godawful bad stuff.

[Dagny T.]

I made it through the whole thing but concur that it does indeed suck ass. I wouldn't go near the movie with a 10 foot pole.

I think I should start hurling more things that suck across the room. It sounds highly satisfying.

[Pro Libertate]

It was so insanely bad. The writing--awful. The history--what the fuck? It just boggled my mind when History Channel and others began running specials like the stuff raised in the book made any sense at all.

[SugarFree]

2011, 2009, 2007, 2006, and 2004. And that's being generous.

(Yes, I'm aware you were joking.)

[Brett L]

Toy Story 3 wasn't that bad.

[SugarFree]

Do you see 2010 in that list? DO YOU? ANSWER ME!

[Fist of Etiquette]

I'm just going to say what everyone is thinking. The Money Pit is the only thing on his resume that Hanks can hang his hat on.

[EDG reppin' LBC]

Bachelor Party. It hit the trifecta for awesome movies: drugs, boobs, and violence. And it's a hilarious comedy, too.

[PS]

THERE'S NO CRYING IN BASEBALL!!!

[PS]

Am I the only one who liked Road to Perdition?

[Pro Libertate]

I liked that okay.

[PS]

Wasn't it Paul Newman's last flick? Sure it was a bit sappy but decent overall.

[Pro Libertate]

I always liked him. If you want to see him in a good role at the beginning of his later years, watch The Verdict.

[PS]

I thought he was brilliant in The Color of Money. Even Tom Cruise was pretty good, doing what he does best--being an asshole.

[Pro Libertate]

He's an excellent asshole.

[PS]

I suppose it belabors the obvious to point out that actors are best at playing themselves.

[Brett L]

Why do you people want the terrorists to have won at hating 'Murca?

[rather]

onetime I dropped my glasses in the toilet but I couldn't get them back because water kept going up my nose.

[Rev. Blue Moon]

Er, what exactly is "twee" about Brooklyn?

[SugarFree]

Large swaths of it.

[BakedPenguin]

A twee grows in Brooklyn

[PS]

Nice.

[Mike M.]

I had no idea Suderman wrote for the Washington Times. I'll bet Weigel really loves that.

[PS]

I read the article but it was difficult with all the popup crap WT has.

[Zeb]

I like the word "twee" a lot.

[Fluffy]

I propose a new term, "tweef" - meaning one whose tweeness makes you want to punch them in the nuts.

[Fluffy]

So, Suderman -

What's the spoiler?

Does the kid find the lock, and what is revealed when it's unlocked?

[Rhywun]

Yeah, why not spoil it. I saw the commercial *once* and I wanted to slap that kid; it's not likely I'll sit through the thing to find out.

[Jezabel]

The key is for a box.

There is a head in the box.

[BakedPenguin]

The head is Osama Bin Laden's.

AMERICA! FUCK YEAH!