Oscar hopes brighten for ‘Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close’

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Now, with the release of the trailer, we get our first look at ‘Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close’ and early Oscar buzz is confirmed: It’s a serious player. It touches all of the academy buttons. It’s a heart-tugger (like ‘The King’s Speech’ last year) with a serious message based upon real events (Sept. 11). It’s packed with past Oscar victors (double champ Tom Hanks, who is a member of the academy’s Board of Governors, and Sandra Bullock) and it’s helmed by Stephen Daldry, who was nominated for best director for all three of his feature films: ‘The Reader’ (2008), ‘The Hours’ (2002) and ‘Billy Elliot’ (2000). Screenplay is by Eric Roth, who won for ‘Forrest Gump’ (1994) and was nominated for ‘Curious Case of Benjamin Button’ (2008), ‘Munich (2005) and ‘The Insider’ (1999). Looks like Max Van Sydow has a stand-out supporting role –- he’s overdue to win.

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-- Tom O’Neil