A Man Called Otto: Neon NZ Review

Cast: Tom Hanks, Marina Trevino, Rachel Keller
Director: Marc Forster

Taking the Swedish book and film A Man Called Ove and remaking it is always a dangerous proposition - even if you have the American sweetheart of film Tom Hanks involved.

The original tale of a cantankerous yet somehow loveable old man who was continually thwarted in his attempts to take his own life was a mix of both heart and black humour. The American remake is pretty much a down-the-line do over of the original that relies on the gradual unpeeling of the onion to emotionally manipulate its audience.

Hanks stars as widower Otto Anderson, who lives in a private community and who's a stickler for the rules, from policing parking permits to making sure the gates aren't left unlocked. Seen as cantankerous by the neighbours, Otto's reign of terror is broken when a new family (headed up by Marina Trevino) moves in opposite.

Hanks plays Otto as a troubled man, whose past revelations hold the key to his current behaviour, and while there's a great degree of mileage to be had from Hanks playing grumpy and snarky, you know the redemption is never far behind given his choice of roles.

From the weaving of flashbacks that star an impressive Rachel Keller as Otto's one time love, the film's sedate pace is more interested at getting you invested in the tragedy inherent in his life - even if they're continually punctuated by oddly comic denouements to suicide attempts. 

There's an odd mix of tone throughout the overlong 2 hour run time; scenes played for laughs come quickly after the bleaker edges of the story poke through. And while it's obvious the feelgood edges are what's expected to win here, there are moments of extreme emotional poignancy throughout. 

A Man Called Otto is as predictable as they come; it's a film about connection, grief, and reconnection in life when it's at its bleakest. It's not an original tale by any stretch of the imagination, and in truth, it dips dangerously close to mawkish in places and feels its weight in its final third.

But if you're willing to forego some of the film's more sentimental edges and open your heart to its story, it's more a cautionary tale of healing that perhaps many in the world will need after some 2 years of extended pain, and with the possibility of more to come.