A Man Called Otto (M, 126 mins) Directed by Marc Forster ***½
We are in Pittsburgh in the present day.
Otto is a retired curmudgeon. We meet Otto on his last day at work, glaring at his young and diverse co-workers and railing against the technology and regulations that he believes have forced him to accept his generous redundancy.
We glean that Otto was once married and that his life was not always a morass of greys, with his days spent raging at the people who infringe on the parking spaces in his street of identical town houses.
But, wouldn’t you know it? An ebullient mixed family have just appeared in the street.
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Soon enough, new neighbours Marisol and Tommy, with their two adorable daughters, are dropping off plates of fresh Mexican food, asking to borrow the occasional ladder and just generally behaving as though Otto is their friend, whether Otto is onboard with the idea or not.
So, do you think Otto’s craggy exterior will crack – and he might heal his relationships with his neighbours, see off a villainous real estate developer and finally reconcile with the tragedy that led to his widowhood? Well, yes. I think the TAB would give you pretty short odds on exactly all of that happening.
Thunderbird
A Man Called Otto is inspired by the Swedish book and movie A Man Called Ove.
A Man Called Otto is an adaptation of the 2015 Swedish hit A Man Called Ove. The novel on which both films are based remains a best-seller.
As Otto, Hanks turns in another portrayal of man who cannot connect with others. Hanks has been marooned in space, lost at sea, a child trapped in a man’s body, a literal man-child, Mr Rogers and a toy cowboy. There have been other roles of course, including a flurry of great rom-coms in the 1990s, but Hanks does have an especial flare for playing men separated from sex and love.
Supplied
While the sheer likeability of Tom Hanks defeats any real possibility that Otto will not achieve happiness in his life, Hanks also brings a variety to his curmudgeonliness that is never not watchable.
The 2015 film located a seam of morbid slapstick which this film’s director Marc Forster (Finding Neverland) is denied. Some concepts just don’t translate well from the Scandinavian and I reckon “morbid slapstick” is one of those. And so a few scenes in which we learn just how dark Otto’s depression might be, finish up being played in a way that jars.
While the sheer likeability of Hanks defeats any real possibility that Otto will not achieve happiness in his life, Hanks also brings a variety to his curmudgeonliness that is never not watchable.
If you’ve come hoping for something as acerbic as Alexander Payne’s similarly plotted About Schmidt, starring Jack Nicholson, you have come to wrong place. A Man Called Otto doesn’t even dwell in the occasional darkness as comfortably as the 2015 film.
Supplied
If you’ve come hoping for something as acerbic as Alexander Payne’s similarly plotted About Schmidt, starring Jack Nicholson, you have come to wrong place.
But, for all its sop, it does have a few things to say, about the things that actually make us human. If you like the hilariously over-informative trailer, I reckon you’ll enjoy the film.
A Man Called Otto is now screening in cinemas nationwide.
