By Christopher James
The practice of remaking international films for an English language audience is a lazy process. Though we sometimes get a stray hit like Scorsese’s The Departed, too often we see a film’s teeth and charm whittled down to nothing (see Oldboy, Downhill, Ghost in the Shell to name a few). A Man Called Otto isn't an abject artistic failure like some of those, but it doesn't bring anything new to its Swedish counterpart, A Man Called Ove. It doesn't feel quite like a Google translate job (most of the American-ized changes work), but definitely only exists because it feels US audiences are unlikely to seek out the Swedish original.
You may think you’ve seen a curmudgeon before, but you haven’t met Otto (Tom Hanks). Every morning he makes his rounds, which includes cleaning up his small neighborhood development, closing the gate on his street and sneering at every smiling “idiot” he comes into contact with...
His wife has just passed away and he is retired from his job of nearly forty years. Otto’s next step is clear: he's going to kill himself and join his wife in the afterlife. Life has a funny way of changing even the best laid of plans. His suicide attempt is thwarted by Otto’s neighbor Marisol (Mariana Treviño), an exuberant pregnant woman who needs Otto to watch her kids.
A Man Called Otto has the subtlety of a sledgehammer. Every moment is genetically modified to get the maximum amount of laughs or tears using everything and the kitchen sink to do so.
Hanks and Treviño make an engaging pair that can melt the coldest of hearts.At first, it’s exhausting to watch the movie strain to mine emotion from the audience. The first hour repeats the same emotional beats like clockwork. Marisol exasperatingly intrudes on Otto in a way that prevents him from committing suicide and goads him into a wacky adventure. Otto teaches Marisol how to drive, gets into a fight with a clown at a hospital and soon becomes a visible pillar in the community. Once the movie expands outside of the strained odd couple of Marisol and Otto, the more power the narrative has. Much like the titular curmudgeon, one’s guard starts to fall over the two hour running time.
If so much doesn’t work, then how does it make you cry by the end? Let’s just say, there’s a reason why Tom Hanks has two Oscars. His movie star charisma is in maximum overdrive here, even with a character as ornery as Otto.
How many movies have a pair of young kids teaching an old man how to live again?To director Marc Forster’s credit, every element of the movie dials up the laughs and waterworks. It’s easy to see the seams, but when it's done well does that matter? Composer Thomas Newman delivers a sweet, spry and genial enough score that nudges you towards each emotion you’re likely to have. God bless producer and songwriter Rita Wilson, trying to earn her Oscar nomination for the original song, “Til You’re Home” (which was recently shortlisted). It lays on the movie’s themes thick, with the end result being a better version of a Diane Warren song from a movie you’d never otherwise seee.
One of the clunkier false notes of the film comes from the frequent flashbacks to a young Otto, played by Tom Hanks’ son Truman Hanks. These scenes show the courtship of Otto and his soon-to-be-wife Sonya. They always play like a highlight reel, only showing immense happiness or sadness. Unfortunately, the younger Hanks does not have the same screen presence as his Father and isn’t able to handle either poles of his character’s journey.
It helps, though, that A Man Called Otto has its big bleeding heart in all the right places. One particularly moving storyline involves Otto’s feud-turned-friendship with the local paperboy, Malcolm. After Otto yells at him, Malcolm confides in Otto that his deceased wife was his teacher and was the first person to use his correct name and pronouns after coming out as trans. Otto ends up taking Malcolm in and teaching him everything he knows about cars. As corny as it sounds, it’s genuinely affecting how kindness and community is shown to those who need it the most in this movie. B-
A Man Called Otto opens in limited release on December 30th. It will expand nationwide on January 13th.