A man called Otto is directed by Mark Forster and stars Tom Hanks as the titular Otto alongside Mariana Trevino and Manuel Garcia-Rulfo as Otto’s neighbours Marisol and Tommy respectively.
This is the second feature film adaption of the novel A man called Ove, following a Swedish adaptation of the same name, Ove instead of Otto.
The film follows Otto and lonely widowed man, who since the loss of his late wife has developed into a bitter and depressed hermit who is ready to take his own life so he once again be with his wife. However when Otto’s new neighbour Marisol challenges his cold demeanour with her larger than life positive personality an unlikely friendship forms and Otto might even begin to enjoy himself and see there is a life worth living and all the attention his new and old neighbours are giving him is only because they care, and not just out to annoy him like Otto once thought.
First off the bat, our two main leads Hanks and Trevino are terrific and definitely the best part about this movie. Their chemistry is awesome. Marisol’s positivity in every situation paired with Otto’s miserable persona is great and hilarious to experience as it is heartwarming.
The film itself covers a lot of sensitive subjects, such as suicide and depression and for the most part handles it quite well, however from time to time it plays these of for comedic effect and it comes across a little insensitive and ham fisted especially since it handles the more emotional scenes so well. A man called Otto definitely pulls on your heart strings and although we all may never experience exactly what our characters (especially Otto) go through, it is quite relatable as everyone in our lives have felt lost or lonely and we always have that special someone to help us get through it. I found myself tearing up more at the scenes where Otto was coping more with life than when he was struggling and this again is a compliment to our two lead stars.
As a movie, it is competently directed and does exactly what is supposed to it’s not going to win any awards but the flashback scenes and the suicide scenes in paticular are really well handled visually and are a standout for the movies direction.#
Sometimes Otto’s mean demeanour can run thin and sometime comes across as forced and unnecessary the slow change in Otto’s outlook to life is definitely the driving force behind this movie and though the film is sad and upsetting by the end as gut punching as it is, the film still manages to end on a positive note and leaves a nice message behind for the audience as cheesy as it is all some people need is a friend.
Final Score
Title: Good
“A competently directed outing that balances dark, sensitive themes and humour relatively well but does come across ham fisted at times, but thanks to great performance and chemistry from our two main leads particularly Mariana Trevino, they manage to keep A Man Called Otto heart-warming and delightful despite sensitive subject matter.”
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