Terror through eyes of nine-year-old boy

Published in 2005, Jonathan Safran Foer's second novel, Extremely Loud And Incredibly Close, revisited the deadliest act of terrorism committed on American soil through the eyes of a nine-year-old boy.

Soon after, British director Stephen Daldry began the slow process of bringing Foer's haunting story to the multiplexes, aware of the sensitive touch required to adapt this powerful material.

Undated Film Still Handout from Extremely Loud And Extremely Close. Pictured: Thomas Horn as Oskar Schell and Tom Hanks as Thomas Schell. See PA Feature FILM Film Reviews. Picture credit should read: PA Photo/Warner Bros. Pictures. WARNING: This picture must only be used to accompany PA Feature FILM Film Reviews.
MESMERISING: Thomas Horn as Oskar Schell in Extremely Loud And Incredibly Close. Below, Shell with Tom Hanks, who plays his father, Thomas.
Undated Film Still Handout from Extremely Loud And Extremely Close. Pictured: Sandra Bullock as Linda Schell. See PA Feature FILM Film Reviews. Picture credit should read: PA Photo/Warner Bros. Pictures. WARNING: This picture must only be used to accompany PA Feature FILM Film Reviews.

In the interim, he made The Reader with Kate Winslet, but all the years of effort with this long-cherished project appear to have been worthwhile.

Extremely Loud And Incredibly Close is nominated as Best Picture at this month's Oscars, and the film has attracted a deserved second nomination for veteran Max von Sydow as Best Actor In A Supporting Role.

The box office cache of co-stars Tom Hanks and Sandra Bullock should woo mainstream audiences to a gently paced film that conjures chilling memories of the Twin Towers shrouded in smoke.

Indeed, the film opens with the blurred image of a man falling through the air against the backdrop of a blue sky filled with the flutter of discarded paper.

We quickly realise this could be one of the many people who jumped from the buildings that fateful September morning.

Oskar Schell (Thomas Horn) remembers the day well – "the worst day" – when he lost his beloved father Thomas (Tom Hanks), shattering the happy home of his mother Linda (Sandra Bullock).

The boy suffers from Asperger's-like symptoms and he carries a tambourine, which soothes him in times of stress.

When his father was alive, they used to play a scavenger hunt game called Reconnaissance Expedition, which involved looking for clues throughout New York City.

An old key found in a smashed vase sparks Oskar's imagination and the youngster becomes convinced that Thomas had left him a clue from beyond the grave.

Extremely Loud And Incredibly Close is anchored by a mesmerising performance from newcomer Horn, who is the emotional heart of the piece.

Hanks is glimpsed in flashback and Bullock impresses in her few scenes.

The resolution to Oskar's search feels contrived, almost preposterous, but the excellent casting and flashes of Daldry's directorial brio counterbalance our incredulity.