MOVIE REVIEW: Tom Hanks' 'grumpy old man' phase stumbles with this discordant comedy about death.
’s tagline is a useful litmus test. If something in you rears up at the directive to “Fall in love with the grumpiest man in America,” then you’ll know to steer wide of this English-language adaptation of Fredrik Backman’s bestselling Swedish novel,. That tagline is an accurate summation of the film’s squish-together of cantankerous and cuddlesome.
Tom Hanks steps into the title role, rechristened Otto, a real grouch. Recently forced into retirement and still reeling from his wife’s death six months prior, Otto spends his days patrolling his neighborhood for infractions – re-sorting the recycling bins, chasing down parking violators, and the like – while trying to avoid his pregnant neighbor Marisol and reflecting on his past .
Otto is also preparing for his imminent suicide. That’s not a spoiler; we first encounter him purchasing rope for a noose and haggling over the price. But it is nonetheless, tonally, a real record-scratch moment the first time we watch Otto try to kill himself, and the filmmakers’ command of tone didn’t improve for me on Otto’s subsequent suicide attempts.
Magpie director Marc Forster has tried his hand at an almost comical number of genres, including misery porn (
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