A Man Called Otto

I really enjoyed the Swedish film A Man Called Ove so I have been looking forward to the remake, A Man Called Otto, starring Tom Hanks ever since I heard about it.  I had the chance to see it last night and, much like the original, I found it to be very touching.  Otto Anderson (Hanks) is a curmudgeonly old man who, as the former chairman of the neighborhood association, takes great pains to see that the rules are followed to the letter which sometimes puts him at odds with his neighbors.  He is also despondent over the death of his wife Sonya six months earlier (the younger version of Otto shown in flashbacks is played by Hanks' son Truman) and wants to join her but his half-hearted attempts at suicide always go awry.  A stray cat, a young pregnant woman (Mariana Trevino) who moves in across the street with her family, a transgender teenager (Mack Baydan) who takes refuge with him after he is kicked out by his father, and the former friend (Peter Lawson Jones) who staged a coup to remove him as head of the association all help him find the joy in living once again.  This is incredibly predictable and a bit manipulative (and probably didn't need to be made since it follows the original beat for beat) but I would be lying if I said I didn't enjoy it because it is just so heart-warming.  I think Hanks is incredibly appealing (even when he is grouchy) and he does a great job with Otto's transformation.  I also really enjoyed Trevino's charismatic performance and I loved it whenever Marisol goes toe-to-toe with Otto because she has great chemistry with Hanks.  There are some really dark themes but there is also quite a bit of humor and my audience laughed out loud many times.  This is an old-fashioned crowd-pleaser that almost everyone is sure to enjoy and I highly recommend it!

Note:  My favorite scene in A Man Called Ove is when Ove and his friend Rune have a falling out over Volvos vs. Saabs.  I'm glad that this was kept and that Otto and Reuben clash over Fords vs. Chevrolets (I laughed out loud during this moment).