Too soon? For Stephen Daldry's 9/11 drama, the right time is "never." Outrageously manipulative (that's Oscar-winner Tom Hanks falling from the World Trade Center toward the camera in one of many ill-advised moments), writer Eric Roth has adapted Jonathan Safran Foer's much-loved novel into the extremely exploitative and incredibly bad tale of a grieving nine-year-old (junior Jeopardy! winner Thomas Horn in a mannered acting debut) who channels his apparent Asperger's into a four-borough journey through New York (with a mute Max von Sydow in tow; I'm speechless too) in search of a lock that fits a mysterious key belonging to his deceased dad (Hanks), the supposed solution to a puzzle that will lead him to catharsis. Poor Sandra Bullock, better than the material and adrift as the boy's patient, understanding mom. Not to worry, Sandy — you've already got your Oscar.
