Otto Anderson (Tom Hanks) is a grumpy old man. Nothing in the world works in the way that he expects. He has been pushed into retirement. He does not like anybody. His beloved wife Sonya (Rachel Keller) had recently died and is shown in flashbacks with his younger self (Truman Hanks). He tries to kill himself, but gets interrupted by new neighbor Marisol (Mariana Trevi?o) and her chaotic family. His continuing suicide attempts keep getting interrupted.

My biggest issue is that Tom Hanks is not this character. His public persona is too fun, too happy, and too nice. It's something that one has to submit to. His niceness does skew the movie into sentimentality. On the other hand, I do really like the flashbacks. I didn't know that it was his son. In a way, he's completely different from his dad. The son is great at playing awkward. He's more this character than his father. I can see his quiet awkwardness turned into anger over Sonya's tragedies. Here's the thing. I love Tom Hanks. I can't help but love this character. I can accept all the sentimentality from him. Some may call it cloying. I call it the sweet drowning in sentimentality.

Based on the swedish movie "En man som heter Ove (A Man Called Ove)" from 2015.

This movie is almost an exact replica of the original. Almost same scenes, dialogs.

For some reason, U. S. remakes of European movies are made almost identical to the original. Maybe that is an European clause to be able to make a remake.

Still, Tom Hanks does what he does best: Entertain. And the supporting cast such as Mexican actress Mariana Trevi?o and Mexican actor Manuel Garcia-Rulfo do a great job, too. Specially Mariana, which even steals some of the scenes with her acting.

One of the few remakes that are enjoyable to watch.

A strong 1st act gave me hope. Could this be classic Tom Hanks? Heartfelt and entertaining, funny, soulful. But by the 2nd act and the sudden onslaught of left wing workeism, it became clear, even Hanksy has sold out. Just think of it this way, the main character is an old white grumpy man on a road to redemption. The protagonist a pregnant Mexican woman. The best friend a disabled black man with some kind of dementia. The lonely kid a transgender girl/boy/them.

All the men in the film, apart from Hanks, are portrayed as idiots. All the people obsessed with themselves on the train platform rescue are rich white girls.

The subliminal message is clear, if you're not ethnic, not trans, not pregnant, not a woman, or you're not being rescued by any of the above, then you're a clown.

FTR my sister is half Pakistani. My nieces are mixed race. My best friend is mixed race. My brother is gay.

The issue isn't being any of those things, the issue with films like this is the undertone of far-left-wing woke agendas. For some reason, everyone, even Tom Hanks, has joined this nutty bandwagon.

Why does it matter? Because a simple film about love should not need to preach 'we're inclusive!'

This is one of the best movies I've seen in a while. The acting is superb, the directing is great and the writing is excellent, for a change. The characters are realistic and relatable, the theme is universal, and the movie invokes emotion. There were a couple of boring scenes where lame music was playing while the characters performed mundane tasks, but fortunately those were short and few. Overall, the story is well told. This is how a story that unfolds slowly should be told; with interesting characters that help maintain interest while little bits of the story are revealed. I would not have minded seeing a little more of their life together, but the movie conveyed the essential aspects necessary to tell the story. I thought the sequence with the younger versions in bed holding hands that shifted to the mirror reflection of the older Otto sleeping alone with his hand out was really well crafted. A Man Called Otto is a rare gem from an imploding industry.

Things have gone on for too long, and it must end, those who break your rules, you just cannot defend, so it's time to say goodbye, join your lady in the sky, but even that's starting to drive you round the bend. But then a woman and her family appear, Marisol scythes and cuts, through all of your past tears, helps to bring some perspective, and the courage to forgive, so when the time arrives, there's nothing to be feared.

A wonderful tale of a cantankerous older man who manages to fondly reflect on the lost love of his life while being inspired by a new neighbour who breaks his outer shell and reveals a generous and kind, larger than life heart. Great performances all round and not the worst remake of an extremely endearing original, although ever so slightly not quite as good at the same time.

It's a decent remake of an AMAZING original Swedish film. If you are literate and read subtitles, do yourself a favor and watch the original first. You will not be disappointed. I think you'd love it far more than this one. If you watch this one alone then that's fine... just stick with it and live in your happy place

It's a decent remake of an AMAZING original Swedish film. If you are literate and read subtitles, do yourself a favor and watch the original first. You will not be disappointed. I think you'd love it far more than this one. If you watch this one alone then that's fine... just stick with it and live in your happy place.

Let's talk about remakes. In this day in age in Hollywood, they are all the rage. They can fall into three categories: a passion project, a soulless cash grab, or a mix of the two in order to be as middle of the road as possible to reach a wider audience. They can also strive to enhance or add a dimension to the story that the original didn't explore before, or do exactly the same stuff as the original without trying to tell it in a different way. I have been thinking of this since I watched "A Man Called Otto" - the 2022 American remake of the Swedish adaptation of "A Man Called Ove." It was a flick that falls into the first and third camps and was better than I expected even though I still prefer the original.

Before we get started, let's talk about the elephant in the room: the title itself. When I found out that the title of the American adaptation was going to be called "A Man Called Otto," I wondered why. And then, I realized that the change was made to reach a wider audience than the original did, especially if they didn't like the presence of subtitles. As much as I, as well as other readers, would rather have the same title as the source material and the first film, let's face it, you would be hard pressed to find non-Scandanavian people who could pronounce Ove correctly (it's pronounced oo-veh). In fact, there's a running gag through the film, in which Otto tells the people he meets his name, and they comment on how odd it is. It almost makes me wonder if they were going to have him called Ove in the earlier stages of development.

The whole reason I had been thinking about remakes is because a Letterboxd reviewer named tyler called this movie "the disneyfication of Gran Torino (2008)" The part that struck me was about the disneyfication part because the film itself reminds me of a Disney live action remake. Specifically, it reminds me of the 2017 version of "Beauty and the Beast" - a film that I mostly liked despite my disappointment with certain things, but couldn't compare to the original. Both remakes try to make changes that make the story more relevant to a modern audience with various levels of success. This results in more complexity than the original stories contained.

In addition, while the title signifies the same plot being told with similar beats as the Swedish adaptation, it also indicates some changes in order to Americanize the story of the same name by Fredrik Backman. Director Marc Forester and writer David Magee tone down some of the darker elements of the story. Luckily, this doesn't involve the suicide attempts, as they are protrayed as melancholic and non-judgemental. Instead, the script eliminates some of the traumatic events that occurred in Otto's (Ove's) life like the way Ove's dad passed away and his childhood home going up in flames due to the work of the bureaucrats. Both are present in the book as well as in the 2015 Swedish version. I bet they did this to focus more on how Sonya changed Otto's life in the flashbacks. And while that's fine, without the other events, there's little explanation as to why Otto is the way that he is outside of a line that young Otto (played by Tom Hanks's real life son Truman) says that his life was black and white before Sonya came in.

Additionally, Forester and Magee make the movie quirkier and more on the nose than the original. The eccentricity is evident in the choice of music whenever Otto inspects the neighborhood and helps his neighbors out. It's roughly the same kind that's used in a lot of family-friendly flicks to indicate some form of quirkiness with its Wii-inspired composition. While the remake does this fine, the staccato violins in the original stand out more and reflect Ove's mindset more. The remake is even more blunt about certain things more so than the book or the Swedish movie. In the opening sequence, Otto goes shopping for some rope and acts rightfully annoyed about the customer service he receives. Later on, he turns off the gas and electricity in his home in order to take his own life. If that wasn't enough, when he comes in for work, there's a retirement party thrown for him, and someone decides to cut right where his face is on the cake. That made me laugh very hard because it was so blunt about its foreshadowing of Otto's suicide attempts.

Moreover, there were some decisions to make it more relevant to a wider audience. One of these included diverse casting. While Otto remains a white man, his ex-friend Reuben (aka Rune from the book and 2015 version) and his wife Anita are black. This makes the subplot with the real estate agency Dye & Merika feel more racially motivated, especially since whenever the white agent shows up, he blasts out rap music from his car, even though their son was in cahoots with the company. There are many ways to read into that, like how this may be commentary on housing discrimination that black Americans have faced for decades, even centuries. However, I'm not sure if this was in the intention of the people involved. The new neighbors are Mexican/Mexican-American. The neighbors in the novel and the original are Swedish and Iranian. Malcolm - the person with the bike - is a transgender male who doesn't like sports. He is a combination of two characters from the book - Adrian, the boy who wants a bike fixed, and Mirsad, whose dad kicks him out for being gay. Mack Bayda - the actor who plays Malcolm - is transgender in real life, so to incorporate that into the story was cool, especially with the amount of transphobia that has been present as of late. It also falls into the theme of acceptance that the book and the previous movie version espouse. Overall, I'm okay with these casting choices because they fit into the themes of the story, and the actors have solid performances.

Another decision that the film made to expand its relevance was containing social media commentary. During the scene, in which Otto tries to get himself run over by a train, an older man accidentally falls into the tracks. Like in the book and 2015 movie, Otto rescues him, while a bunch of onlookers film the incident on their phones. There are even closeups of the event from the smart phone's perspective. Like Ove, Otto criticizes the crowd for not doing more. Also, Luna (Lena from the book and 2015 flick) is a social media journalist, which provokes some annoyance from Otto. Like her previous counterparts, she wants to hear more from Otto about how he rescued the older man and hails him as a hero. At first, he locks her up in his garage, but when he's gathering people to help Anita to prevent the realtors from forcing Reuben into a retirement home, he contacts Luna to dig up how they've been retrieving their information illegally. I'm not entirely sure what the movie is saying about social media, yet I interpreted it as commenting on the negative and positive sides of intrusion. This theme is present throughout the film. Otto sees people who need his help as parasites that prevent from doing what he truly wants to do since he views them as incapable of completing certain tasks. This is like social media since people are so glued to their phones that it inhibits them from taking action. Overtime, his perceptions evolve after he gets to know them, and he utilizes their strengths. Social media also brings people together in the toughest of times and allows those to share their stories. Again, I'm not sure if this is what the movie is going for, but this is how I interpret it.

The performances are solid. The standouts are Mexican actress Mariana Trevi?o and Tom Hanks. Trevi?o plays Marisol - the Parvaneh equivalent from the book and 2015 film. Like the actress who played Parvaneh in the Swedish original, she portrays Marisol as pushy and determined, but caring. However, she comes off as a stereotypical Latina at times, especially when she gets loud, nervous, and reverts to speaking Spanish. This might have to do with the script. Even it made me prefer Bahar Pars's performance more, I still liked Trevi?o's characterization.

And now, I have to admit that Tom Hanks was better than I expected him to be as Otto. Like many people, I had my doubts about him playing the titular character because he's the most likable actor in all of Hollywood. How could he play a curmudgeon like Ove? Well, when I was watching it, I felt Hanks's commitment to the character, and during the course of the flick, I forgot that he was playing Otto. Plus, his emotional transformation was a little more obvious than Rolf Lassg?rd's, but it was still effective. However, at the end of the day, I still prefer Rolf Lassg?rd as Ove because even though I don't know any work he has done besides "A Man Called Otto,"his characterization was more impactful than Hanks's, especially the scowl he wears on his face through majority of it.

Given what I've said, I'm not sure if I would feel the same way if I never saw the Swedish film adaptation. I've spoken with people who've seen the American remake, and they loved it. I can see why. It hits the same beats in the story in similar ways and retains the sentimentality of the novel. Plus, there's no subtitles to worry about. I think I would've liked it more if I saw the American remake first.

Overall, "A Man Called Otto" is an okay remake that tries to update the original Swedish movie in ways that are commendable but with mixed results. The beauty of the novel by Fredrik Backman is its simplicity. The American remake tries to complicate stuff that didn't always need to be. With that being said, I still liked it, and I can see why others love it. I would recommend to those who love Tom Hanks, want a feel good film that makes people cry every now and then, and have read the book. But at the end of the day, I would still want people to see the original movie "A Man Called Ove" more because while the remake certainly had passion behind it, it was still made to generate more money with a wider audience.

Tom Hanks plays another simple man, his go to character. This time it is the cranky, old retired guy who yells "turn down your music" and "get off my yard" that was played much better by Clint Eastwood in "Grand Torino." This time it is a guy who is forced out of his job because of his age. His life is spent making his neighbors angry and keeping the paper boy in line. The movie lost big points and got a collective groan from the audience in the theater I was in when he gave a speech about how trans kids are smarter than their parents and they are "stupid" if they don't let the kids mutilate their bodies and take non-reversable hormones. Too young to vote or drink but life-altering body mutilation is cool. Such a misstep. The movie is produced out of his wife's liberal production company so there you go. Otherwise, it was just a depressing, sad slog through an old man's life and his failures and disappointments. I would not recommend. Most of the people leaving the thinly populated theater were disappointed.

I went into the theater without any knowledge of this movie. I had not watched a trailer, read a synopsis, or even seen the poster. It could have been a comedy, horror, or drama, and I would not have known ahead of time. Just so you are aware, this "A Man Called Otto" is a drama with some light comedic elements. The dramatic moments, as well as the humorous ones, make for a pleasant film. I smiled and cried along with the rest of the audience.

As someone who has been personally affected by suicide, this movie had an emotional depth that I resonated with. There was real pain and internal conflict in this film, and I was able to find a peaceful calm as I watched. Tom Hanks does a beautiful job playing Otto and capturing the intricacies of a man in the last chapter of his life. While his performance is admirable, it is Mariana Trevi?o's Marisol who lights up the screen.

From the gentle score by Thomas Newman to the delicate directing, there is a lot to love about "A Man Called Otto". It is a simple story, but I found myself drawn to each element. It is not a film that I would watch every day, but it is a lovely reminder of the value of life.

This film tackles the difficult source material mentioned above with grace. That being said, there are moments that fall into preachiness rather than entertainment. More than once, I was distracted by the film trying to forcefully lecture rather than let the audience watch and gain their own perspective.

The third act drags at a snail's pace. The core story, particularly flashbacks to Otto and Sonya's courtship, were captivating, but some of the side stories were a bit bland. There are 20 minutes in the middle of the finale that could have been cut out, with absolutely no impact on the final narrative. The uneven pacing led me to think that the movie was going to end at about five different times.

2022 was the year of Tom Hanks fatigue. I did not enjoy his performance as Geppetto in "Pinocchio", and I could hardly stomach his accent as Colonel Tom Parker in "Elvis". With that in mind, think that 2023 could be a turnaround. I thoroughly enjoyed watching his emotionally moving performance in "A Man Called Otto". While the film is not the most memorable or groundbreaking, I found its quiet approach to storytelling refreshing.

Best Character: MarisolBest Scene: Otto and Sonya's first dateBest Quote: "Now I think that she wants me to keep living, and I have things to do." - OttoBest Piece of Score: "Force of Nature"

Additional note: Look up the song "Til You're Home" by David Hodges. This song perfectly encompasses the tone of "A Man Called Otto", which is probably why it is featured in a prominent moment in the movie.

The sixty-eight previous reviews on here are either very favorable, or complain that this isn't like the Swedish movie adapted from the same novel. To the latter, smaller group I can only say: Movies are their own works of art, folk. They may be adapted from books or other movies or whatever, but as works of art, they stand or fall on their own terms, not on whether they adapted some other work well. The fact that the poster for this movie is very clearly designed to recall the one for that other movie, *A Man Called Ove*, shows that the creative team here was not afraid of the comparison, and indeed evidently encouraged it.

They were right to do so. This movie stands straight and tall on its own. It's really a masterpiece.

It starts off small, modestly, presenting a character who borders on caricature: a grumpy old man - Otto - living by himself and alienating those who would try to get close to him. But even at the beginning, we see that this is not a Tom Hanks version of Clint Eastwood's character in *Gran torino*. He's grumpy and unhappy, yes, but he's not a bigot. This will not be a movie about learning to like those who are different.

In the same sense, when new neighbors move in, the Mexican wife, superbly played by Mariana Trevi?o, is not a cliché of how white Americans see Latinos. Yes, she starts by bringing over food to thank Otto, as the Vietnamese do in GT, but she speaks fluent English as well as Spanish, so she quickly becomes an individual, very much Otto's equal, and not just a smiling, babbling other.

For the next two hours, the two spar with each other as she tries to help him and he keeps pushing her and others away. Along the way, we learn more and more about him, as in a well-paced murder mystery, until, by the end, we finally understand the full extent of why he is grumpy. He becomes a more and more complex character, as does Marisol (the Mexican neighbor).

We also come to known and understand several secondary characters, again a step at a time.

This takes two hours. While I never found it to drag even for a moment, it does not move fast. You have to be wiling to pay attention to all the details to learn about these people. That's why I would strongly urge you to see this in a movie theater, rather than at home. No, there are no fancy special effects, no monsters jumping out at you, etc. But you want to be in an environment where you are totally focused on this for the whole length of the movie. Trust me, you will be happy that you made the effort.

It's also worth arriving early to watch the previews of coming attractions. (But no, you should avoid the ever aggravating Maria Menunos, whose preview show has gotten longer and worse.) I sat through twenty minutes of previews for

movies about monstersmovies about men who were going to kill innocent peoplemovies about men who were going to force innocent people to kill each otherteenage girls worrying that their breasts won't get big enoughelderly women acting as if they had lost all their marblesmale dancers built like body builders and the women who want to have sex with them

In other words, movies that probably don't have much in terms of gradual character development and mystery revelation. *A Man Called Otto* is first-rate for what it is, but it's worth remembering that what it is is worth appreciating in part because it doesn't come along that often. (And no, it didn't used to come along all that often *back in the day,* either.)

One small caveat: don't count on the cat. Some of the previews make it sound/look as if Otto is brought back to an interest in life by a stray cat. Not true at all. He is brought back by other people, their efforts, and his recognition of other people's goodness. Cats are not the same thing at all.

8.5/10It is the first movie that i watch in 2023 in the theaters but not the first original 2023 movie that i watch in the theaters, A Man Called Otto starring Tom Hanks is an adaptation from both the novel and the swedish film which i never read and watch so i can't really compare it to those two, and as the blind one i really really do think A Man Called Otto is a very nice touching little film that while it needs to be growing for me at first, it keeps working and working even more and i love it at the end, very very strongly perform by the great Tom Hanks and the rest of the supporting cast performance are just delightful and amazing, it's a 2 hours of an enjoyable, funny, and entertaining film with a very serious theme that when it touch on the serious theme it really hit me to the heart, A Man Called Otto flawed at a some places but overall i still have quite a good time with A Man Called Otto in the theaters and as a movie itself like i mention earlier, a very nice touching little film that fills with a great story, amazing performance by all the cast with their likable convincing good characters, also great music and good score, i love it and i highly recommended.

This is a watered down copy and remake of the 2015 Swedish film, "A Man called Ove" or (En Man Som Heter Ove) in the original. The Swedish film is listed in IMDB. This copy doesn't have the punch or appeal of the original. And, the leading man in the original is much more interesting.

Apparently someone thought Tom Hanks could duplicate the Swedish actor, but he doesn't. There is no point in doing a remake like this, except if someone thinks they can make a profit from it. The original film is available to rent for less than the cost of a movie theater ticket at Netflix.

Don't waste your time with this poorer copy. You'll enjoy the Swedish film more. It has good subtitles in English for those who don't speak Swedish.

I absolutely loved A Man Called Otto I don't know about the original but this movie is a masterpiece! I'll never understand people that don't appreciate new visions of cinema especially ones that are spectacular like this. Regardless Tom Hanks was electrifying in this and Marc Forster directed this so well every scene was engagingly heartwarming, comedic, somber, and very entertaining! The audience I saw with enjoyed quite a bit I'm not sure why others didn't as much. My review might get mixed vibes but I would like to say I'm painfully lonely even though I'm 30 I have autism I'm not as lucky as most maybe one day it'll be different. Phenomenal film no matter what.

Fans of the BBC sitcom "One Foot in the Grave" might recognise something of the "Victor Meldrew" in Tom Hanks' portrayal of the eponymous curmudgeon. Formerly head of the community association, he takes it upon himself each morning to do his "rounds" - checking the gates are closed, the permits are displayed, the recycling is correct - all pretty anal, really. A combination of circumstances are about to rock his rather pedestrian world, though. He is laid off after thirty-odd years at work, a deed which renders him pretty rudderless; and he gets new neighbours - "Marisol" (Mariana Trevi?o), husband "Tommy" (Manuel Garcia-Ruffo) and their two daughters. Now their arrival causes him no end of irritation (and, if truth be told - for me too!). The family are pretty hapless and soon "Otto" finds himself helping them out and gradually, her forceful and annoying character starts to morph into something more accommodating and he begins to feel just a tad useful. Now it ought to be said that most of this story evolves against a backdrop of attempts by the older man to kill himself. There is humour to be had here, as well a rather nuanced message illustrating the effects of loneliness and a general resignation that the fruitful section of his life is finished. Gradually using "Marisol" and a few other neighbours as conduits, we learn of the tragedies that have led him to his current predicament, and to a position where there might just be a new light at the end of his tunnel. From a character perspective, I preferred the "Otto" at the start of the film. A rather bitter and amusingly sarcastic figure, but as the plot develops we lose that sharpness, the story becomes a little too cluttered and I found the initial poignancy falls away as a rather sentimental degree of melodrama edges into it all. Still, Hanks offers a strong performance and after her distinctly annoying start I found myself increasingly engaged with the whole family across the road who might just offer "Otto" some validation and/or salvation. It's also a remarkable understatedly inclusive film. This community has all sorts of colours, shapes and sizes - and "Otto" for all his faults, has no truck with discrimination. This inclusiveness is delivered to us quietly as if it is all no big deal. A more productive and subtle method than many offering the screamingly obvious box-ticking characterisations. This is a good film, not a great one, and I am not sure it needs to be seen in a cinema - but I would certainly suggest you do get round to watching it.

Good grief there are some really grumpy reviewers out there. This is the perfect vehicle for Tom Hanks and he makes the most of the opportunity. ( I note that he and Rita Wilson are producers ). Yes it is a remake of a classic Swedish movie but this plays out to a much larger audience while retaining the same sentiments. Well written and acted this is great entertainment moving seamlessly from comedy to drama and ultimately packs an emotional punch that makes it memorable and pushes it into one of the best movies of the year . A great reminder of why Tom Hanks has been at the top for so long while providing a break out supporting role for Mariano Trevino who is genuinely both very funny and very moving. Can I also highlight the soundtrack ... especially the Kate Bush single . Highly recommended .

One of my favourite books ever is A man called Ove by Fredrik Backman. The story of a curmudgeonly old fella who is obsessed with rules and patrols his community zealously for any misbeviour. Its not a spoiler to say Ove who in thus movie is called Otto has enough with life.

A very fine movie of this book is already available and is perhaps truer to the book but here comes hood old nice guy Tom Hanks playing against type for a big Hollywood version. The schmaltz is laid on with a shovel but I still fell in love with the movie. New neighbours move in and see through the old crank for what he really is and the journey is delightful, though a woman in front of me at the cinema really went through a supply of tissues. This is good old fashioned family fare. Predictable? Yes. As good as the book? No. Thoroughly enjoyable? YES.

Greetings again from the darkness. Grumpy people are everywhere these days. In fact, two-time Oscar winner and all-around likable guy Tom Hanks (FORREST GUMP, PHILADELPHIA) may be the only one who catches us off-guard when he's grumpy. Here, Hanks plays Otto, the neighborhood curmudgeon who patrols the community daily drenched in full-fledged annoyance over topics like pets, recycling, traffic, and parking. In fact, Otto is annoyed by most people and just about everything they do (and these days, who amongst us isn't).

The film is an American remake of the Oscar nominated Swedish film, A MAN CALLED OVE (2015), which featured a terrific titular performance from Rolf Lassgard. Both films have been adapted from Fredrik Backman's novel, "A Man Called Ove", with writer-director Hannes Holm behind the 2015 version, and screenwriter David Magee (LIFE OF PI, 2012) and director Marc Forster driving this one. Mr. Forster has previously directed some interesting and diverse movies including, MONSTER'S BALL (2001), FINDING NEVERLAND (2004), STRANGER THAN FICTION (2006), THE KITE RUNNER (2007), QUANTUM OF SOLACE (2008), WORLD WAR Z (2013), and CHRISTOPHER ROBIN (2018).

We join Otto on his morning rounds, and that's when we witness his constant annoyance on display, while also meeting some of his neighbors like Jimmy the friendly power walker (played by Cameron Britton), as well as the ultra-friendly new neighbors, very pregnant Marisol (Mariana Trevino), her husband Tommy (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo), and their herd of young kids. There is also Otto's estranged friend Reuben (Peter Lawson Jones), who is now very sick, his wife Anita (Juanita Jennings), and Malcolm (Mack Bayda) a local boy whose parents kicked him out because he's transgender. Malcolm has a connection to Otto's late wife, and it's her passing that has not only caused Otto's personality to shift into grump mode, but also pushed him to explore ways to join her 'in a better place', although he can't quite manage the next step.

Marisol is really the major force in the story, as her unrelenting friendliness and persistence in connecting with Otto, slowly breaks down his defense as he finds a reason to live. Director Forster uses flashbacks to help us understand Otto's background. Hanks' own son Truman Hanks plays him as a young Otto, while Rachel Keller portrays young Sonya, the girl that wins his heart. A devastating personal tragedy can certainly impact a person to the point where their personality and outlook changes; however, we also see how a positive influence ... here with Marisol ... can help pull someone out of a dark emotional hole.

Tom Hanks (coming off his roles as Colonel Tom Parker in ELVIS and Geppetto in PINOCCHIO) is so familiar to movie goers that it's comical to see him go full grump, although it should be noted that he's more Walter Matthau in BAD NEWS BEARS (1976) or GRUMPY OLD MEN (1993) than he is Clint Eastwood growling "Get off my lawn" in GRAN TORINO (2008). In other words, despite some similarities to ABOUT SCHMIDT (2002), the film is never quite as dark as it portends, even with Otto's congenital heart issue and the redevelopment threats from the perfectly named Dye & Merica Real Estate Company. This is designed and presented as a sentimental mainstream film that is easily relatable, and it will undoubtedly have that appeal.

Opens in theaters on January 6, 2023.

Wow. I was not prepared for that. I thought I was going to see a comedy film about a grumpy man who gets frustrated with his neighbours. I did not expect to be in tears by the end - and not tears of laughter.

I did not have the experience of the original book or film so I went into this with no particular expectations. It's been a long time since a movie touched me in this way.

Tom Hanks excels as Otto in a character so unlike any other he has played before. His own son played his younger self which added a level of authenticity to the role. The supporting cast brought a mix of humour and pathos resulting in beautiful and moving film that hit all the right notes.

Don't go and see this without tissues folks!

I went into this movie with little expectations, and came out with this added to one of my favourite films of all time. I felt every emotion during this experience. I couldn't picture anyone else play the character of Otto, Tom hanks absolutely nailed it in this. Along with the female lead, she was hilarious and had the whole cinema laughing at times!

I will recommend this film for a long time. I go to the cinema once a week atleast and this has been the best watch in a very long time.

Don't forget to bring your tissues. It'll have you on an emotional roller coaster but you won't want to get off.

A Man Called Otto

It is stretching it to call it a comedy at best it was amusing.

I really enjoyed this movie and Tom was on good form and played the irascible titular lead. The movie unfolded slowly and it all came together in the last 20 minutes.

We had some really good performances all round and I think I have seen this same plot a number of times.

It was not perfect, it was a few scenes too long, we had several cultural stereotypes that grated but we slowly warmed to it, I suppose! Some elements were overly contrived to manipulate the viewer, however these a minor criticisms of a largely highly entertaining movie.

I giving this a strong 7 outta 10, meaning it's well worth a watch.