Metacritic Movie Ratings
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close Reviews

A sample of reviews from critics across the country.

• 88

  out of 100

  ReelViewsJames Berardinelli

  Director Stephen Daldry has fashioned an emotionally powerful cinematic testimony about that horrific late summer day.

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• 80

  out of 100

  The Hollywood ReporterTodd McCarthy

  Best of all, von Sydow is absolutely wonderful, with the great veteran actor clearly relishing this very unusual role as he darts, skulks and, in a stealthy way, mugs across town. Without saying a thing, he dominates the middle part of the movie.

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• 70

  out of 100

  Los Angeles TimesBetsy Sharkey

  Director Stephen Daldry has taken great care in looking at it through the eyes of a precocious New York City boy in a film filled with both sentiment and substance.

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• 67

  out of 100

  Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum

  A polarizing load of quirkiness in Extremely Loud gunks up (at least for this hometown mourner; your results may vary) what is at heart a piercing story.

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• 63

  out of 100

  Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert

  No movie has ever been able to provide a catharsis for the Holocaust, and I suspect none will ever be able to provide one for 9/11. Such subjects overwhelm art.

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• 63

  out of 100

  USA TodayClaudia Puig

  In Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, director Stephen Daldry must walk a tricky line between poignancy and pathos. He occasionally slips into maudlin turf.

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• 60

  out of 100

  Variety

  With its re-enactments of that fateful day, Extremely Loud plays a bit too much like one of those perfectly lit, heart-tugging segments TV networks air during the Olympics. It hardly matters that Horn manages to give such a naturalistic, unmannered performance as the young Oskar when everything around him has been so deliberately orchestrated to provoke a specific reaction.

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• 50

  out of 100

  Village VoiceNick Pinkerton

  Such an abundance of "epiphanies," one after another, amount to a tactical assault on viewer sentiments. The deluge of tears is Daldry's idea of pathos, but to these eyes, it's Oscar-trolling 9/11 kitsch.

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• 40

  out of 100

  The New York TimesManohla Dargis

  Yes, you may cry, but when tears are milked as they are here, the truer response should be rage.

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• 10

  out of 100

  Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern

  The production's penchant for contrivance is insufferable - not a single spontaneous moment from start to finish - and the boy is so precocious you want to strangle him. It's surely not the fault of Thomas Horn, the remarkable young man who plays him.

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See all Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close movie reviews at Metacritic.com