by Samuel Nichols, Contributing Writer
My mother loves A Man Called Ove, the original story that A Man Called Otto is based on. Let me add some context to that statement: my mom will not watch movies more than once unless she is really blown away by them. After reaching out to her this morning to confirm, she actually has seen Ove more than once. In my mind, that puts big pressure on Otto to fill those shoes. While I would not say it lives up to its predecessor, it is still a good flick, in large part due to the gruff performance from Tom Hanks.
Otto Anderson (Hanks) is a mid-60s widower who just wants people to follow the rules. He lives a structured life, and worked for decades at the same factory which has now forced him into retirement. With his wife Sonya (Rachel Keller) having passed away a few years earlier, and most people in his neighborhood considering his self-appointed neighborhood watch to be a nuisance, Otto spends much of his time reminiscing about the early days of his marriage before she passed. With nothing else left in his life, Otto considers ending it all so he can be with her again. But when Marisol (Mariana Treviño) and her husband Tommy (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo) move in across the street with their two young girls, Otto finds himself being called upon by them for help on multiple occasions. The love and energy that this family brings into his life reinvigorates Otto and gets him more involved in the community.
Now I know one thing here: Tom Hanks does not miss. I have seen him being the redeeming factor in a number of subpar to mediocre movies, and while I would not give this movie either of those negative connotations, a lot of what I like about it is Hanks. His normal charm and fun-loving nature is not here, and it has been replaced by a gruff and rough personality that shows off another aspect of his talent. The sarcastic and short responses he delivers make for a lot of good comedy. Juxtaposed against the electric portal of Marisol from Treviño, the scenes between the two of them are fun to watch. In addition, there is a fun stray cat that Otto interacts with frequently, and those are cute moments. The rest of the supporting cast like the happy and bumbling Jimmy (Cameron Britton), the devoted wife Anita (Juanita Jennings), and the endearing young Malcolm (Mack Bayda) are good additions as well. Conversely, the actor who plays a younger Otto (Truman Hanks, Tom’s son) in flashbacks, ironically is fairly wooden throughout his scenes.
Narratively, you can tell where this movie is going from the jump. I do not see that as much of a deterrent or detractor, but if you were looking for a little more originality or suspense via plot, it is not here. Where the narrative is derailed is when we flashback to Otto’s younger years. These scenes last several minutes apiece and really break up the narrative flow of what’s going on during the modern times of Otto’s life. And the only purpose they set up is to show how Otto had a rough time in his young adulthood, and that his marriage was a struggle at times. There is one series of flashbacks based around Otto’s friendship/rivalry with his neighbor Reuben (Peter Lawson Jones in modern scenes, and Lavel Schley in flashbacks) that I found fairly humorous, as the entire thing revolved around Otto’s love for Chevrolet cars and Reuben’s love for Ford cars. It is the exact kind of thing that dudes could get petty about given the right circumstances.
Not much can be said on the technical side of this flick. The cinematography is fine during the modern-day scenes, but the flashbacks seems to have an odd filter over them that make it far too cheesy and oddly yellow. I cannot remember much of the score, and the set designs seem very much like someone just filled a studio lot with two-story apartments, aside from one scene that takes place in a cozy diner in the 1970s. That was probably the only time where the flashback scene earned its overdone warmth.
All in all, Otto lives up to the legacy of Ove in a lot of ways, but does not surpass it. Hanks is the big selling point here, and I would imagine that is why he is on all the posters for it. If you are in the mood for a happy and simple story, it is worth a watch.
Score: 7/10
A Man Called Otto is currently playing in theaters
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