Film: A Man Called Otto

 

GENRE: Drama/Comedy
RATING: PG-13 for thematic material involving suicide attempts
RUNTIME: 2 hours and 6 minutes
PLATFORM: Movie Theatre
STARRING: Tom Hanks (A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood)
Mariana Trevino (Club de Cuervos); Rachel Keller (Legion, Fargo-TV show)
DIRECTOR: Marc Forster (Stranger than Fiction, Finding Neverland)
WRITER: David Magee (Finding Neverland, Life of Pi)
PLOT: A grumpy widow wants to end it all but is constantly interrupted by a young family who moves across the street.   

FULL DISCLOSURE: I like Tom Hanks films. Never read the book.          

STORY STUFF: While a good chunk is predictable, I was totally engaged with the story. I was thoroughly invested in Otto’s life and got some teary eyes on more than one occasion. There are some great lines throughout that make you smile and laugh. I also enjoyed the jumps back and forth between the present day and the past. Realizing afterward that the writer also did Finding Neverland, it makes sense as I got some feels from that movie as well. As I get older, I get more emotional. I also feel most of Otto’s grumpiness is totally justified although there is a physical altercation that didn’t fit at all.

ACTING STUFF: Hanks is always a treat to watch. He is so good on screen. I think he should have been a bit older though – pretty spry for his age. Trevino is the perfect dose of feistiness and works well with Hanks. Tom’s son, Truman, plays a younger version of Otto. He performs well but I thought he didn’t look that close to his dad. Colin is way more the dead ringer but was too old for this role. Also, the cat is adorable and Mike Birbiglia plays a good jerk.     

ARTISTIC STUFF: Cinematography and editing are done well. As I mentioned before, I enjoyed the blending of the past and present. There were some poor music choices here and there. I like some of the acoustic tunes but a couple of moments felt a little cheapened by the music. And again, Hanks’ character could have used more aging.       

VERDICT: Four and a half stars out of five
SEE IT IF: You want some feels and enjoy Tom Hanks
UPCOMING REVIEW:  You People