AManCalledOtto is often clunky and tonally a mess, but when this adaptation focuses on the friendship at the heart of the story, the film shines. Our review:
Within the opening moments of A Man Called Otto, the second adaptation of Fredrik Backman’s novel A Man Called Ove, you can see the problems inherent in this retelling. Otto Anderson is a grumpy man in his 60s who we first see at a hardware store. He rudely tells the employee that he would like to cut the length of rope he wants himself, then complains when he's overcharged pennies for what he is buying.
Otto is a man that is mad at the world. In addition to his frustrations with being asked to retire, Otto is constantly getting annoyed at the younger people he comes across on a daily basis, as well as the people who follow the arbitrary rules that he's placed on the neighborhood. But mostly, Otto is angry at the world because he no longer gets to live in it with his wife Sonya, who recently died.
These flashbacks are also intended to be some of the most powerful moments within the film, and yet, the way Forster brings them to life is peculiar and undercuts their potential. For example, these moments often come when Otto is attempting suicide, and Forster’s decision to go back-and-forth between these youthful moments and Otto trying to take his own life is truly unusual.
A Man Called Otto also comes at the end of one of Hanks' weirdest years, which has seen him play Colonel Tom Parker in Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis, and take on the role of Geppetto in Robert Zemeckis' nightmarish Pinocchio update. A Man Called Otto is certainly a better example of Hanks’ gifts, however, as no matter how cantankerous Otto gets, we still love the guy because it’s Tom Hanks.
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