A Man Called Otto

 This review may contain spoilers!

 

In 2022 my first film of the year was The King's Man and it ended with the weirdly tone deaf post-credit scene of 'teasing' the next big antagonist as Adolf Hitler. To counter that absurdity (and maybe to reassure me somewhat?) 2023 begins with a really moving slice of life comedy feature that left me emotional right up till the credits. A Man Called Otto is an adaptation of Frederik Backman's A Man Called Ove and follows titular character Otto, a grumpy widower who is ready to give up on life until a young family moves in across the street and changes his outlook. You know this is probably one of the simpler plots I could have started my year off with and I'm actually really grateful it was as good as it was. It can be easy for a little slice of life film like this one to be poorly paced or have a lot of vapid scenes between key plot points. But the difference here is that the story around Otto as a character is genuinely quite interesting, he's not a bad nor cruel person. He's just a miserable man who has lost the love of his life and doesn't know how to find his way back to happiness. We also get to see all of the little quirks that define Otto in his everyday and it's really interesting seeing how his approach to these changes as he comes to bond more with Marisol and her family. I also loved how this film establishes community through the ensemble cast, it very cleverly weaves connections with Otto to all the people we come to meet no matter their screen time. There's some really valuable discussion here around the value of connection to others and the joy we can find in both community and love.

The visual style of this film is quite simple and intimate, which weirdly enough is exactly what a film like this needs. It takes a few risks outside of the box that don't pay off but it takes many more that do. Watching Otto murmur dialogue hazily as slip with a soft focus into a flashback, or the hard central framed imagery of the train station suicide attempt are just some great examples of why this film has surprisingly good cinematography. Thomas Newman's score is whimsical and light but it also clips in at surprising offbeat moments that really elevate the feature; and any flashback scene accompanied with Newman's score immediately are memorable moments.

Cameron Britton, who played Jimmy, is a very strong comedic element of the film; yet Britton is also quite sweet in his delivery of past experiences the community had together. Juanita Jennings, who played Anita, is a very soft spoken and kindly figure; watching Jennings still grow this more fiery resolve was one of the nicer subplots in the film. Mariana Treviño, who played Marisol, is one of those performances that really steals the show quite often; Treviño is this quick-talking larger than life figure who builds such a wonderful and sincere on-screen relationship with Hanks. Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, who played Tommy, is a real sweetheart even if his role is a bit witless; I liked that this character was a bit inept but still so utterly lovable and a great father onscreen. Christiana Montoya and Alessandra Perez, who played Luna and Abbie respectively, are a couple of really talented young performers; I loved the scenes in which Hanks attempted to connect with these young girls or his role learnt Spanish from them. Rachel Keller, who played Sonya, gives a captivating performance in this; this is a role that has so much empathy and heart and Keller embraces that extremely well. Truman Hanks, who played Young Otto Anderson, is a much milder and gentler figure than Tom Hanks' older portrayal; I really liked seeing how this younger role fell in love and also the ways in which he experienced anguish.

However, the best performance came from Tom Hanks, who played Otto Anderson. When first we meet Otto he doesn't seem the pleasant sort at all. Hanks stomps about the set with a rigid gait, a permanent scowl and a scathing line delivery. We watch this character reveal all the bitter edges of himself, even eventually seeing the more vulnerable moments in which he has reached a point where he has decided to take his own life. Yet Hanks is so good at finding those witty ways of delivering dialogue despite being foul-tempered, or slipping moments of quiet good intent in. The more opportunity Hanks had to break apart his role's anger from the sincere figure that was underneath marks him as the veteran performer he is. I adored his chemistry with Treviño, Garcia-Rulfo, Montoya and Perez because between them they crafted an unconventional family dynamic that I really adored. A lovely performance from Hanks that is leagues ahead of his work from 2022.

This film does suffer from those slice of life comedy pitfalls, scenes that don't advance the plot or where the pacing drags in places. But really I think the moments A Man Called Otto struggles with the most is the real outdated sense of humour, men comparing their choice in cars or the usual quips about social media and cellphones. I just think the bar for humour is a little higher than that these days and the film didn't really gain anything from trying to appeal to the fifty plus crowd. There's also a really good example of trans representation in this film, they have a trans role and even cast an actual trans actor in the part. But I also really felt that the subplot around Malcolm comes quite late into the film and is penned almost as a surface level afterthough. It's nice to see a film doing the right things but I would've liked for some better writing around this.

The editing of the film sets a slow pace and staggers out the cuts more than is really needed, the script takes on most of the legwork for trying to move at a sustainable level. I also really found the soundtrack of the feature to have some songs that just did not fit nicely with the tone of the film, where the score went right the soundtrack compilation felt gratingly off.

Mack Bayda, who played Malcolm, seems like the performer who is most trying to find their feet in this film; I really found Bayda's delivery to not really vary all that much. Mike Birbiglia, who played Dye & Merica Real Estate Agent, was nowhere near as sleazy or menacing as the film required him to be; Birbiglia's final confrontation actually took all the punch out of his role in a moment that really could have showcased him better. Kelly Lamor Wilson, who played Shari Kenzie, is hard to buy as a social media journalist; I was really confused how well this character even worked from a narrative position either.

A simple slice of life comedy that will trascend expectations and kick off your 2023 just right. I would give A Man Called Otto a 7.5/10.