Movie Review: A Man Called Otto directed by Marc Forster

I’ve not cried in a movie for a very long time. Or had such a good laugh! The opening scene in a hardware store assures us that Tom Hanks (Otto) is a grumpy, and quite unpleasant, old man. He patrols his neighbourhood with an almost religious fervour. Meeting cheerful neighbours in this morning patrol is met with a barely heard grunt and a sour face. Then new neighbours move in. The wife, Marisol, (Mariana Treviño) is yammering at her husband Tommy (Manual Garcia-Rulfo) in Spanish directing him to park their small car and U-Haul. The husband does not know how to parallel park properly at all. To shut up the noise, Otto bolts across the street, directs the parking process, and when that is unsuccessful growls at poor Tommy to get out of the car and give him the keys. Otto does it himself. When he has the phone, power and lights turned off, it is curious but seems in character. As the story unravels we learn Otto’s back story that has pushed him away from living. Mariana, however, is persistent, pregnant and has two young daughters. She gives him home prepared meals. Her daughters ignore Otto's grumpiness and insist that he read them stories. Throughout the movie, with each unsuccessful attempt to join his beloved Sonya (Rachel Keller), he is called on to help one of his neighbours. He goes willingly and with much frustration. Later scenes at this wife’s gravesite are poignant and tell us of his deep grief. A very touching and very real story, toward the end he is known as Abuelo Otto. How he gets there is the story.

“Of all the imaginable things he most misses about her, the thing 

he really wishes he could do again is hold her hand in his.”

~ Fredrik Backman, A Man Called Ove

Directed by: Marc Forster

Based on the novel: A Man Called Ove written by Fredrik BackmanWriting Credits: David Magee, Fredrik Backman, Hannes Holm

Abbreviated Cast: 

Tom Hanks - Otto

Mariana Treviño - Marisol (neighbour)

Manuel Garcia-Rulfo - Tommy (Marisol’s husband)

Christiana Montoya - Luna (Marisol’s daughter)

Alessandra Perez - Abbie (Marisol’s daughter)

Juanita Jennings - Anita - neighbour

Peter Lawson - Reuben- Anita’s husband

Cameron Britton - Jimmy (lives with Anita & Reuben)

Mack Bayda - Malcom (paper delivery)