8. Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
Stephen Daldry's adaptation of Jonathan Safran Foer's acclaimed novel is at least earnest in its intentions, though it still isn't a whole lot less offensive in how it tugs so violently at the heart strings, using 9/11 as an emotional touchstone in a story that simply doesn't need it. Some have praised the film for being one of the first to engage with 9/11 in an active dialogue, but what benefit does it give the story, when the father (Tom Hanks) could just as easily have been hit by a drunk driver or shot by a mugger? It's a very clear attempt to cash in on a tragedy, even if there is a certain topical currency to it. The film's quirky scavenger hunt plot seems so detached from 9/11 that including the disaster seems rather pointless. This takes on a more disquieting air with some of the imagery that Daldry opts to include in the film, namely brief CGI imagery of Tom Hanks falling from the Twin Towers - is this really necessary? It reeks of tack.