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When tragedy strikes in life we can either run away from it, or face it head on. Then again, maybe there’s another approach. Perhaps we should do like Oskar Schell, (Thomas Horn) did in the heart rendering drama “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Closeâ€. Oskar systematically charted a course to try to make sense of his father’s untimely separation from him.
Grief is something that everyone deals with differently and yet at the same time very much the same. While there is an overwhelming lack of acceptance or denial at first, this is often followed by anger, resentment, and a feeling of being cheated. For Oskar it was all these things and more. A boy who while extremely bright, in fact bordering genius, at the same time struggled with many symptoms of Asperger’s disease (Autism).
This movie was not only captivating but mixed with so many emotions that at times I found myself laughing and the next minute tearing up. Thomas Horn was amazing in his role of young Oskar. He eloquently portrayed the struggles of a child dealing with the sudden death of his father. A father, who was not only missed, but one who could not even be given a decent burial due to the circumstances of his death. I could not help but be drawn into the life of young Oskar, feeling every emotion, every anxiety and anxious moment throughout Thomas’s entire performance.
The events of 911 are brought out in a very different way in this film. Rather than dealing with the event itself, it instead shows us the life struggle of just one boy and his mother as they try to cope after their great loss.
Oskar’s Father, played by (Tom Hanks), did an amazing job in every scene in which he appeared. Director Stephen Daldry’s  use of flashbacks was artfully interwoven throughout the film revealing life as it was before 911. A few of these flashbacks gave us a glimpse of how hard Oskar’s father worked to build a relationship with his emotionally handicapped son. He would create adventures for Oskar that would become full fledged expeditions. Often these expeditions were nothing more than scavenger hunts designed to find clues to solve an even greater mystery. These adventures proved to be the glue that bound them together and made Oskar feel fulfilled.
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One such adventure involved the story of a Sixth Borough in New York City!
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