Monsieur Lazhar vs. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

nclysander

on 6/9/2012

Two movies about coping with death from a child's perspective. Of the two, Extremely Loud & Terribly Close is more ambitious and, unfortunately, more pat. It's virtually impossible to sum up the tragedy of 9:11 by focusing on one fatherless child over the course of a two-hour movie; it's much more viable to examine the effects of a teacher's suicide on her bereft and confused classroom. I still liked Extremely Loud, unlike most of the people I've talked to. It has some great scenes, like the first appearance of the extraordinary Viola Davis, or the bit near the end when Thomas Horn says to Sandra Bullock, "I don't tell you that I love you enough," and she says something along the lines of, "Of course you do." I just think Monsieur Lazhar approached the dark subject matter in a more modest and revealing way, and I wish more people had seen it. In spite of all the great turns from known actors in the Hollywood film (and an excellent debut from Thomas Horn), Monsieur Lazhar wins in the acting department too: it contains not one, but two, of the best child performances I've ever seen, and Mohamed Fellag is no slouch in the title role either. And while EL&IC sort of grinds to a halt, Monsieur Lazhar has one of the most beautiful minimalist endings I've seen. Daldry's film has better cinematography and a much more interesting title, but that's about it.