A Man Called Otto

Starring: Tom Hanks, Mariana Trevino, Rachel Keller, Cameron Britton, Mack Bayda, Juanita Jennings, Peter Lawson Jones, Truman Hanks, Mike Birbiglia
Directed by: Marc Forster
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Comedy, Drama
2022

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A widowed curmudgeon (Tom Hanks) contemplates suicide, but finds his neighbors beginning to break down the walls he's put up around himself and the world.

Review:

Tim: I've been meaning to read Fredrik Backman's A Man Called Ove for quite a while. I've heard nothing but good things about it. As it happened, I saw the American film version of his story first. This is an interesting film. I have to admit, I wasn't sold on it in the beginning. It was good, fine, but felt forced. As the movie went on, though, I was surprised to see that like the titular character, the movie itself started to break my own barriers down. By the end of the film, it touched my heart more than I expected. In th end, I really enjoyed this movie.

I never thought for a second Marc Forster's film was bad. However, the beginning felt rough to me. It felt forced and clunky. The movie works so hard to establish Otto as this grumpy curmudgeon- it really strains the storytelling to show all the ways he's exact and demanding. That might be closing the gates to the community, sorting recycling into its proper bins, or just saying mean and nasty things to those who try to interact with him. In this world, people mostly often shake it off, like, "Oh, that's just Otto." I'm not sure I believed any of that. The world doesn't quite work that way. It felt over-the-top to me, this depiction of nastiness and then the forgiving attitude of many around Otto. I had a hard time believing any of this. As the film progresses, we learn more of these supporting characters and Otto's life gets tangled up with theirs. He doesn't want that to happen, but it does anyway. In between, we see various failed suicide attempts. It's an odd story in some ways. As the movie gets towards its end, though, Forster pulls off something unexpected. The whole community he's shown throughout the film starts to feel real. We realize the supporting characters might be annoying, but we've become invested in them, too. And, we've come to become emotionally invested in Otto and his redemption story. By the end of the film, I did feel some strong emotions. I wasn't expecting that and it made me rethink the film. This will never be among my favorite Tom Hanks movies, but it's definitely yet another really solid movie from him.

Speaking of Hanks, he's excellent as Otto. Hanks can do anything as an actor and I felt like this was a good challenge for him. He's made a career of playing good guys, so it was refreshing to see him as the opposite (although he always has a heart of gold). Hanks seems to enjoy playing this character and letting his darker side emerge. I'm not sure he's always the most believable in these early scenes- he's Tom Hanks, for goodness' sake! But, as the movie moves forward and we learn more about Otto, it's so easy for us to fall in love with the character because of Hanks. I thought he did a good job physically inhabiting the character, too. He looks slimmed down and focused in his portrayal of this character. We've come to expect this from Hanks- delivering terrific performance after terrific performance, and he doesn't let us down here.

The supporting cast is solid, but I was surprised there weren't more recognizable names. Mariana Trevino was good. She emerges as one of the characters we care most about. I don't think I ever loved her performance, but it works for its cartoonish quality. She doesn't exactly seem like an authentic person, but she's fun to watch. Britton was solid in a supporting role that was extremely different from what he did on Mindhunters. Mack Bayda adds a nice performance, too. I always love seeing Mike Birbiglia and that was true, here, too. For the flashback scenes, Truman Hanks made a nice stand-in for his father. I was a huge Rachel Keller fan from her time on Legion and I believe she gives one of the best performances of the film here. She perfectly brings her character to life and you understand how the loss of her could cause Otto's to completely collapse. She doesn't get a ton of screen time, but she makes a lasting impression.

Forster's film ends up being really effective, but I have to admit it's on the weaker end of my "7.5" rating. I truly believe it deserves that, but it just barely gets over the line. It's an inspiring movie, a sweet movie, but it does feel a bit saccharine at times. I wish it carried a little more edge to it. However, I have to admit, in a world that is currently so messed up and filled with so much bad, we need more movies like this. It might not always be the most believable, but A Man Called Otto is inspiring and it reminds us of the best of humanity. In that sense, it's a completely appropriate entry in Hanks' oeuvre. He's been delivering movies like this for decades and as one of his biggest fans, I love every chance I get to see him in a new movie. This film might be a lesser big hit of his, but it's a success nevertheless.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating- 7.5



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