One of the most anticipated movies of the year—Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, starring Tom Hanks, Thomas Horn, and Sandra Bullock opens today. The plot revolves around a socially awkward young boy, Oskar (Thomas Horn) whose father (Tom Hanks) dies tragically in the 9/11 Twin Tower attacks. Oskar was always playing quizzical puzzle games to bond with his father, and is left with only his distant, grieving mother to make sense of all that has happened.

After his father’s death, Oskar discovers a key with the name ‘Black’ written on it hidden in his father’s things, and sets out on a journey through New York City to find the lock the key fits into—one last puzzle to solve.

Based upon the 2005 novel of the same name, director Stephen Daldry (of Billy Elliot, The Hours, and The Reader fame) hoped to finish production in time to coincide with the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks.

The film received mixed reviews, with Betsy Sharkey of the Los Angeles Times saying that the film was a ‘handsomely polished, thoughtfully wrapped Hollywood production about the national tragedy of 9/11 that seems to have forever redefined words like unthinkable, unforgivable, and catastrophic.’

Peter Howell of the Toronto Star gave the film one out of four stars saying that ‘[the] film feels all wrong on every level, mistaking precociousness for perceptiveness and catastrophe for a cuddling session. It's calculated as Oscar bait, but the bait is poisoned by opportunism and feigned sensitivity.’

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close has been nominated for Best Picture for the Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards and the Houston Film Critics Society, and there is some Oscar buzz surrounding the film.