“A MAN CALLED OTTO” MOVIE REVIEW

 

“A MAN CALLED OTTO”

 

MOVIE REVIEW

 

A Man Called Otto is a comedy-drama film directed by Marc Forster from a screenplay by David Magee. It is the second film adaptation of the 2012 novel A Man Called Ove by Friedrich Backman and a remake of the 2015 Swedish film of the same name written and directed by Hannes Holm. Tom Hanks stars alongside Mariana Trevino, Rachel Keller, and Manuel Garcia-Rulfo.

Otto is a grumpy old man living in suburban Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Otto is a stickler for rules and routines and takes pride in maintaining order and cleanliness in his community. He is struggling to recover from the death of his wife Sonya, the love of his life. His grief over her death drives him to commit suicide by various means without success. Despite his stern exterior, Otto is a kind and compassionate man who is often misunderstood by those around him. He often quarrels with his eccentric neighbors, which include a young family, a noisy cat, and a pregnant woman and her husband.

One day, Otto's world is turned upside down when a new family moves in across the street. The family consists of an energetic young woman, her husband, and their two daughters. Although initially resistant, Otto is drawn to her and her family, and he begins to open up and embrace the joys of life and relationships with others. As Otto's relationships with his neighbors deepen, he becomes more involved in their lives and helps them with their various challenges. Otto helps the family fix up their house, and takes the cat with him.

Despite his own struggles and setbacks, Otto finds solace and purpose in helping others and rediscovering the love of his life. Ultimately, Otto learns to let go of his sadness and embrace the joys of living in the present moment. He discovers that there is more to life and realizes the value of making friends and being loved. After coming to terms with his past and the deaths of his wife and infant son, he eventually succumbs to the same heart disease that killed his father.

Director Marc Forster's wonderfully twee drama is bleak and pointless, mistaking eccentric good looks for an overlong personality. Tom Hanks plays Otto, a grieving widower. Forster and writer David Magee aim for a sophisticated and upbeat tone, but the result is inadequate, creating a world that is completely discordant.

Feeble jokes and one-dimensional supporting characters add to the emptiness that overwhelms The Man Called Otto, which is then exacerbated by low-ambition filmmaking at every turn. We rarely leave Otto's street, but Forster doesn't use this small scale to create any kind of living atmosphere, the visuals and music choices are bland and sad. Meanwhile, the flashbacks are done so effortlessly that they border on self-parody, each new blurry transition from present to memory is unintentionally ridiculous, and casting Hanks' youngest son, Truman, as young Otto is a mistake, as it turns out. After working mostly in the camera department in previous films, Hanks Jr. turns out to be a very poor actor.

A film like A Man Called Otto needs to be honestly engaged to have a chance to work, but here all of Forster's material, from the minor children to Otto's adoption of the cat to an evil officer's "climax," comes off as a strange attempt at genuine emotion beyond the film.

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