Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close hit theaters Friday, Jan. 20. The movie is directed by Stephen Daldry, and features actors Tom Hanks, Sandra Bullock and an incredible performance by 13 year old Jeopardy champion, Thomas Horn. It was a remarkable film. Although it was over two hours long, it delivered a very important message. This movie was definitely a tear jerker, but it was without a doubt, worth watching.

The movie is about a young boy whose father dies in the 9/11 tragedy while at a meeting. A year after his father’s death, Oskar (Thomas Horn) wanders into his dads’ closet, which hasn’t been entered since “The Worst Day.” As he is going through his deceased fathers old things, he knocks down a blue vase which in it had an envelope with a key inside it. In the envelope it had “black” written on it. From that point on he meanders around New York City looking for the lock which it fits. He is convinced that this is another expedition his dad had created for him.

Oskar’s perspective on all of this pertains to the sun. If the sun burnt out, it would still be shining for eight whole minutes until we could no longer see it, because that is how long it takes for the sunlight to reach earth. Oskar is determined to fulfill his “eight minutes” with his dad, but while trying to connect with his dad, he pushes his mother even further away.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, which has been nominated for the Best Picture category for the 2012 Academy Awards, was a New York Timesbest-selling novel before it hit the big screen, and was written by Jonathan Safran Foer in 2005.

This film was wonderful, and I would recommend it to anyone, old, young or in between. The movie does a really good job of showing the audience just how much of an impact 9/11 had on not only adults, but the younger demographic as well, which is not something that has been well recognized before. This movie was an eye opener, and the plot was very touching to watch.