I recall some years ago watching “United 93” – the film about the passengers who overpowered the plane’s terrorist hijackers – and experiencing a measurable emotional connection. It was visceral, that movie, and I didn’t particularly mind that it was, for better or for worse, exploiting some pretty horrible events to rope me in.

Ostensibly, “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close” is working with similar source material (albeit in a less direct fashion). It’s the story of a young boy who, after losing his father in the collapse of the World Trade Center, embarks on an expedition to, as he sees it, solve the mystery behind a hidden key.

To that point, I can at least say that “Loud and Close” was better than “Hugo.” But that’s about as far as I’ll go.

The boy, Oskar (played by Thomas Horn), is a precocious, well-spoken child of oh, say, 12 years. He and his father (Tom Hanks) share a special bond; the elder encourages an adventurous spirit in the younger, goading him constantly into collecting clues to and searching for things that may or may not exist.

When the father becomes trapped in the tower and ultimately dies in the attack, Oskar’s peculiar personality spends the next year fermenting as he goes from merely curious to panicky and obsessive.

One day when (finally) searching through his father’s things, he comes across a small manila envelope containing a single key and with a single word written on it: “BLACK.” He takes this to be some sort of hidden gambit – one last puzzle to unravel, at the end of which will surely be some sort of catharsis. That journey, along with the young actor’s performance, is what drives the film.

Unfortunately, it drives just a little too recklessly. The boy has psychological issues (obsessive compulsive disorder at the very least), and you want to sympathize with him...and hell, maybe I did. The fact is that even if you don’t like the film, you have to respect the gravity of the subject matter. Perhaps that’s what “Loud and Close” has a hard time overcoming.

The rest of the cast is packed with talented actors (Sandra Bullock, Max Von Sydow, Viola Davis, Jeffrey Wright, John Goodman), but so much time is spent with Oskar that it’s difficult for any one of them to flesh out a big performance. Von Sydow certainly comes close, but then, his character is mute. So it goes.

Overall, it’s a decent picture with heavy themes, and wants desperately for its audience to feel something. More than 10 years removed from the tragedy, the whole thing felt a little overwrought. Perhaps I’m just desensitized. I suspect that a less critical viewer would have been moved by the boy’s story. Either way, just as a film, it was just OK.

My rating: 6 out of 10