Tom Hanks is a positive, inspiring figure. He’s rich, successful and we all love him for his optimism. The role played by him in this movie makes it hard for us to see him as a character who is grumpy, yells at a paperboy, insults foreigners and has a strong ichinen to commit suicide.
An adaptation of Fredrik Backman’s career launching bestseller, A Man Called Ove, the movie grows on the audience. We have seen so much of Tom Hanks that we land up comparing each of his performances.
The story revolves around a grumpy old widower who snaps at everyone on the streets and keeps on trying to take his own life. A sweet, nerdy couple move in next doors and insist on befriending Ove and their friendship brings his sad life some respite. The goofy neighbors are played by Mariana Trevino and Manuel Garcia-Rolfo. They feel for Otto and their friendship and warmth are the highlight of the script.
A Man Called Otto wants to lift our spirits, but the trouble is, the nicer Otto gets, the more naggingly fake the movie becomes. It should have been called “Florid-est Grump.”
Throughout the movie, we get to see Otto’s memories when he was younger and getting to know Sonya. The movie is an exaggerated version of our world, where the young folks are always wrong and things were always better ‘back in the day.’
