Film adaptation of Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

I think that everyone’s goal in life is to be the best they can be, to have the most they can have, and be as happy as possible. Whether it be teaching or painting or writing or acting, everyone’s going to play up their talent until they can get the most use out of it and accomplish this goal. So when an author writes a bestselling novel, a novel that is read by thousands of people and makes tons of money, why wouldn’t they play it up and want to get the most out of it? Why wouldn’t they want to make that novel into a movie? It would be a plus for both parties. The author gets more money and the reader gets an extension to the story.

When I was younger I never would have watched a movie adaptation before I read the book. But now that I’m and almost-adult it doesn’t matter so much to me. If a movie adaptation looks good, then I’ll go and see it, even if I haven’t read the books. I’m not sure why this changed for me. Maybe it’s because now I don’t have enough time to actually read the book first, or maybe it’s because I was disappointed in the adaptation too many times. Whatever the reason, it really doesn’t matter. If the film adaptation is good, then it’s good. Whether it comes before the book or after. That is why I think it would be hard for someone to make Extremely Loud into a movie. There’s too much to explain to make it a movie that would be good before the book. People would be confused.

There are many scenes that contribute to the importance of the book. One that I think would have to be in the movie is the scene when Oskar comes home on 9/11 and hears his dad calling, but doesn’t answer. I think that this scene is important because it’s probably one of the main reasons why Oskar searches the city for the owner of his dad’s key. He feels guilty for not answering so he devotes his life to figuring out his dads’ last mission.

The second scene that I think would have to be in the movie is the scene where Oskar finds the key. This scene would tell the audience why Oskar even started his mission. The location of the key is also an important factor for later on in the book.

The last scene that I think defiantly needs to be in the movie is when Oskar tells his mom that he wished it was her who had died and not his dad. This scene is important because it really shows the strained relationship between the mother and son. Oskar doesn’t feel close with her anymore and he feels like she doesn’t care about his dads’ death because she doesn’t act sad. This belief of his mom is also a factor that contributes to Oskar’s need to find the owner of the key.

There are always parts to a book that don’t totally need to be there. A scene that doesn’t have to be included in the movie adaptation of Extremely Loud is of the grandparents’ part. When they talk about their life together and all of the nothing and something spaces, it doesn’t have a lot to do with Oskar. Taking out this part would not be detrimental to the plot of the movie.  

The second scene that I would take out of the movie is when Oskar rides in the limo on the way to his dads’ funeral. I don’t feel like a lot of stuff happens during this scene. I think if you took it out, the audience wouldn’t lose anything important.

To be an author deciding what parts of your book got made into a movie would be a hard thing. In Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, there are many parts that are important for the overall message of the book. They all have to be included for the book to make sense. It would be hard to fit them all into a 2 hour movie. That is why I’m curious to see the movie and decide if it’s better or worse than the book.