Entertainment : In Depth - “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close”

“Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close” starts our March Oscar Month off early, playing the Palace THREE DAYS ONLY Friday, Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 24 – 26 at 7 pm, and Saturday, Feb. 25 at 2 pm.

THE PALACE WILL BE CLOSED MONDAY THROUGH THURSDAY FOR ACT I REHEARSAL!

You know – that 911 movie with the long title. Interestingly, I recently read this novel by Jonathon Safron Foer, and I must say the book was so much more than a story about 911. After all the hype, I’m very curious to see the movie adaptation.

The narrator of the movie is 9-year-old Oskar Schell, whose father (portrayed by Tom Hanks in flashbacks) was killed in the 911 bombing of the Twin Towers. Oskar is a special kid, not just because his dad has died, but very intelligent, detailed and curious beyond his years. I suspected Oskar of Asperger’s Syndrome as I read the novel, and indeed in the movie Oskar himself wonders if that is the case.

The novel changes narrators throughout, which I found confusing. One of those narrators is Oskar’s grandfather, who survived the WWII bombing of Dresden and his now mute. At least half of the novel deals with that time in Dresden. I can’t imagine the movie can give that part of the story equal treatment with a running time of 129 minutes. Hence the 911 label.

The character of the grandfather/renter is played by Max von Sydow in the film. Other notable performances include Sandra Bullock as Max’s mom, and Viola Davis, as Abby Black, one of the many people with the surname Black that Max visits searching for the owner of a key he found among his father’s things.

“Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close,” one of nine films nominated for Best Picture at this year’s Academy Awards, is rated PG-13 for emotional and disturbing thematic images, and language.

OSCAR MONTH AT THE PALACE

Be sure to check online at www.vintonpalace.org or pick up a March schedule in the lobby of the theatre. ACT I will present “Dancers” the first two weekends of the month, www.act1.org, so our movie schedule is a bit erratic.

However, so many films worth seeing! “The Descendents” is up first, followed by “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy,” “My Life With Marilyn,” “The Artist,” and finally, for the kids, “The Adventures of Arrietty.”

See you at the Oscars!