By Keith Walther | Rose Law Group Reporter
After some rather lukewarm performances of late, Tom Hanks returns to form as a grumpy old man. “A Man Called Otto” is a leftover from 2022 that was released nationwide this month to hopefully gain more audience attention. Directed by Marc Forster, this film is a drama through and through, but sprinkled with comedy that only Hanks can provide.
The story of Otto (Tom Hanks) initially shows him as a curmudgeon who stalks his neighborhood every day to ensure the strict rules of the neighborhood are followed without exception. People who violate even the smallest of rules are Otto’s biggest pet peeve, and he rudely and comically puts them in their place. It becomes quickly apparent that Otto is not simply grumpy, he’s depressed and actively seeking to end his own life.
When Marisol (Mariana Trevino) and her family move into the neighborhood, it quite literally interrupts Otto’s suicide attempts. Despite his off-putting nature, Marisol forcefully and unwaveringly inserts herself into Otto’s life. As the story unfolds, the audience is slowly shown what made him this way through heart wrenching flashbacks of his memories. It remains to be seen whether Marisol’s positively upbeat personality and sincere caring, not to mention a strangely attached stray cat, will be enough to thaw Otto’s heart and help him regain his will to live.
“A Man Called Otto” is a remake of the Swedish film adaptation of the novel “A Man Called Ove” by Frederik Backman, which was nominated for two Academy Awards in 2016. Veteran director Marc Forster establishes a strong emotional connection between his main character and the audience like he’s done previously in “Finding Neverland,” and again most recently in “Christopher Robin.” As in those wonderful movies, Forster also invokes inspiringly positive messages about humanity and finding the joy of living.
Forster does a masterful job of intersecting well-timed flashback sequences that inform the audience of Otto’s deep backstory involving a beautiful, once in a lifetime romance. As enriching as this main storyline becomes, he errantly undercuts it by introducing multiple melodramatic subplots of the overly eccentric neighbors. This is seemingly done to check boxes and elicit more superfluous tears, but all it accomplishes is making the audience think ok, enough already. If he focused solely on the main storyline and the dynamic between Otto and Marisol, this would have been a truly rewarding filmgoing experience.
Tom Hanks does a terrific job of connecting to this main character, making his performance all the more believable. After his last two oddly disconnected performances this past year in “Pinocchio” and “Elvis,” it’s relieving to see Hanks hasn’t lost it quite yet. He makes this character incredibly relatable, exquisitely displaying the profound sense of loneliness and loss that inevitably warps him into this negative and unapproachable shell of a man who keeps everyone at arm’s length with biting remarks. Hanks manages to keep his audience enthralled through timely delivered comedy and sadness over the darkness he keeps guarded behind his mask of furrowed brows and frown lines.
Supporting actress Mariana Trevino gets her big break at 45 years old and it’s opposite of the great Tom Hanks. This Mexican born actress gives this film the balance it needs, infusing her character with a positive energy and caring nature that makes for some truly entertaining moments when the two forces collide. Hopefully, this will represent a jumping off platform into future projects for Trevino.
The rest of the supporting cast is serviceable but ineffectual. However, it is worth noting that Tom Hanks’ son, Truman, plays younger Otto in the flashback sequences and does a fine job in that role. This is only the second time Truman has been in front of the camera, the first time coming in 2020’s “News of the World.”
“A Man Called Otto” is certainly worth seeing, but not necessarily in the theater. The main character/storyline provides some tearjerking moments, a riveting romance, and timely laughter, but is thwarted from greatness by overly dramatic subplots and characters that are completely unnecessary.
This movie earns:
