Page 20 THE VILLADOM TIMES I, II, III & IV • February 1, 2012 ‘Extremely Loud’ (continued from page 18) viewer. One wonders if the boy should be in therapy, whether it is safe for him to be traveling the boroughs alone, and why an adult in his life isn’t explaining the folly of his goal. Director Stephen Daldry and writer Eric Roth have put together an excessively sentimental tale about loss, healing, and acceptance with little attempt at subtlety or restraint. Under Daldry’s direction, Horn must carry the picture. Though he gives it a Herculean try, he can’t salvage the flawed script. There are several additional problems. First, many of the characters remain sketchy. Oskar’s mom, his grandmother, a certain Mr. and Mrs. Black (Jeffrey Wright and Viola Davis) and especially the elderly renter are curiously underdeveloped. Because the relationship Oskar forms with the elderly man is the boy’s first real bond with another human being since the death of his father, it approaches poignancy, but Daldry simply uses the character as an interesting footnote rather than as someone who has a lasting effect on the youngster and his search for the impossible. Jonathan Safran Foer, the author of the novel on which the film is based, incorporated information about the effect of the Allied bombings of Dresden, Germany on the Schell family and contained ruminations on terrorism, war, and personal lives thrown into chaos by politics. These are absent from the movie, leaving it more about communal healing than about national trauma but not making viewers feel an emotional investment in the characters. Sentiment is fine in a Lassie movie or in measured doses in mainstream films. What feels wrong in “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close” is its obvious manipulation. Director Daldry uses a child in an emotional tailspin in a blatant attempt to win hearts, but keeps viewers at arm’s length, never quite succeeding in embracing the audience. Viewers start as spectators and remain so. The film has a rambling nature until the elderly renter joins Oskar in his trek around the city. There is great chemistry between the two, and von Sydow’s exceptional performance elevates the movie considerably. Rated PG-13, “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close” plays as a mystery predicated upon a young boy’s desperation to solve his father’s unintended final riddle. As a picture about grief, it shows that the loss of a loved one takes different tolls on different people and each bereaved person must get over it in his or her own way. Actual images from 9/11 are fleeting, and serve mostly to express the horror of the day. Ultimately, the movie never fully involves the viewer. The fine performances far surpass the caliber of the script.