‘A Man Called Otto’ Brings Color Back to the World

A Man Called Otto, based on Fredrik Backman’s novel “A Man Called Ove”, is a beautiful story about finding new color in your life when your sunshine has faded.

Tom hanks flawlessly plays a grumpy old man who has his routine and refuses to stray even after he has lost the most important person in his life. At the start his daily snow shoveling, and recycling checks, are nearing an end as Otto plans to join his wife six feet under. Luckily his suicide attempt is interrupted when new neighbors try to parallel park a trailer. Otto soon realizes that he has a very large heart and must help all the neighbors from the corporate realtors and their ugly schemes.

This is a beautiful story about a grumpy man who just lost his wife and how fate can find the right people to put in your life at the right time. Marisol, played by Mariana Trevino, and Otto have the most beautiful friendship as the platonic grumpy x sunshine trope plays out. The comedic nature of their relationship will have you laughing so hard, you will almost forget that Otto wanted to die at the beginning. Marisol brings so much light to Otto’s world after feeling like his life was in black and white without his wife.

Even though you will have moments of laughter, be sure to have tissues nearby as we have the honor of travelling through the love story of Otto and Sonya. Tom Hanks’ son, Truman Hanks, plays the younger version of Otto and it is absolutely stunning. He is just the right amount of awkward and you can see how he has always been stuck in his ways and how Sonya opens his eyes to a much brighter world.

We also have the opportunity to see just how large Otto’s heart is when he meets a former student, Malcolm, of Sonya’s. Malcolm, played by Mack Bayda, is able to be open with Otto and share how Sonya changed his life when he was transitioning. The acceptance we see from Otto and the way he is unphased by someone being Trans is beautiful to see and not a reaction we get to see often from old white men. Otto takes Malcolm under his wing and begins to teach the neighborhood how to take care of cars, brings them on his routine and even teaches one of them to drive “the correct way.”

Picture from Fandango

This is a perfect adaptation of the novel and I have to say the acting in this movie made me more emotionally invested than I was in the book. Grieve with Otto and take a walk with him as he takes on the world with all of his pesky neighbors that might just turn into friends.

You can find some of the best lines from the novel in this motion picture and it just makes you sink into this stunning contemporary movie about love, grief and how sometimes having a big heart is a double edged sword. 

TW: Suicide, Death