A MAN CALLED OTTO – Review by Susan Granger
Tom Hanks stars in A Man Called Otto, a remake of the popular 2015 Swedish film A Man Called Ove which was Oscar-nominated for Best Foreign Language Film.
Forcibly retired from his engineering managerial job, widowed Otto Anderson (Hanks) is bitter and resentful. So now he spends the majority of his time patrolling and enforcing the rules of his gated neighborhood, located somewhere in suburban Pennsylvania.
Cranky Otto complains a lot, unleashing his anger at a delivery truck driver for unauthorized parking, a woman whose dog urinates on his lawn, a man who exercises in a skintight outfit, a stray cat that settles near his garage and – above all – a large real estate conglomerate.
Aptly described as “a grumpy old bastard,” he’s contemplating another suicide attempt when very pregnant Marisol (Mariana Trevino), his new immigrant neighbor, seems determined to befriend him, along with her dim-witted husband (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo) and two young daughters.
Even for Otto, her plaintive requests for help are irresistible, as he gradually not only lends her husband some tools but also volunteers to teach her how to drive. Good-natured Marisol repays by delivering delicious homemade food.
What most people don’t realize is the heartache behind misanthropic Otto’s contentious behavior. Flashbacks reveal how and why Otto lost his sense of purpose in life after his beloved wife Sonya (Rachel Keler) died.
Tom Hanks delivers a carefully modulated, understated performance, and it’s fascinating how well his ‘real-life’ son Truman plays ‘young’ Otto.
Formulaically adapted from Fredrik Backman’s best-selling novel by David Magee and directed with restraint by Marc Forster, this comedic drama tends to be a bit too melodramatic, encompassing a railroad train track rescue, Otto’s reconciliation with a former friend and the despair of Sonya’s transgender former student.
FYI: Tom Hanks’ wife, Rita Wilson, is listed as a producer and she sings ’Till You’re Home with Sebastian Yatra on the soundtrack.
On the Granger Gauge of 1 to 10, A Man Called Otto, is a subtle, sincerely redemptive 7, streaming on Prime Video.
