50/50 Challenge - Movie #2: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

For movie #2, I won free passes from San Diego Reader for a pre-screening, which wasn't technically true because the movie had been released in several theaters, not that that matters. One quick word about winning free stuff though: On average, I probably win something once every other month. Maybe more if I enter more contests. I'm saying this both to brag and to tell you that the old saying really is true - "You can't win, if you don't play...suckas!"

The movie, which is based off a book by Jonathan Safran Foer, looked to be a tearjerker. I didn't read the book, which is not typical for me as I am a big advocate for reading the book before watching the movie. However, it got less than stellar reviews from two of my friends who did take time to read it.

I was disappointed to find out that the trailer was the saddest part of the movie. While the film's story was indeed a sad one, the oddities had me frowning more out of WTFness than sadness. If you haven't seen the previews because you've been living under a rock, it's the story of a boy who loses his father, who was in the World Trade Center on 9/11. Oskar's dad, Tom Hanks, pre-tragedy sends his son on "expeditions" to search things such as the sixth New York City borough. After his death, Oskar finds a key that he believes must be to a secret that his dad has left for him.

Oskar: He is a precocious mind that makes you want to strangle him and hug him simultaneously. Incredibly smart, active mind, brave and dull all at once somehow.

I won't spoiler alert it as I semi-did in my blog about Jurassic Park III (which I'm sure the majority of people have seen), but I will say that the ending left me wondering another question that had nothing to do with the original story, but did have to do with that dang key!

The meat of the story is the journey Oskar takes and the photos and stories he puts together for his own records of where he's been. The intrigue lies within seeing a glimpse of lives you don't know behind closed doors, the lives you walk into unannounced, the lives that continue on even when a loved one has died. That was the heart of it for me.

And, seeing New York City. I love that place.