A Man Called Otto

So as I’ve been saying, my husband and I have been catching up on movies from the end of 2022. This weekend's pick was A Man Called Otto. Now I will admit that the trailer looked cute but initial impressions didn’t wow me, we saw it because I will see anything with Tom Hanks in it. That said Tom Hanks was an incredible casting choice and this was such an amazing role for him. He plays a great grumpy old man.

This film ended up being very personal and “at” me as my mom passed when I was little and I had to watch my dad try to exist without her (he had a very hard time). I was crying pretty consistently the whole film, it was funny, beautiful, heartbreaking and truly amazing. I genuinely can’t think of a genuine criticism that one could have about this movie, except that maybe it's too sad to re-watch on a regular basis.

Now I knew after the first scene that Otto was so angry because he had lost his wife, it's a very predictable trope to go with, however the way they developed it was done very well. Overused tropes are only acceptable if there is a strong enough story to support it. Casting Tom Hanks' son, Truman to play Otto’s younger self was also a very nice touch. We got to see this beautiful love story unfold in flashback every time Otto couldn’t handle living without his wife. A feeling that, now that I’m married I completely understand.

The balance between the humor and the sadness was very well done. The entire premise is built around this poor man trying to kill himself so that he can be with his wife again, that is difficult subject matter to lighten up. However, having someone interrupt him every time he tries was a great way to lift the mood. The way he felt the need to help people in a very aggressive way was both funny and extremely adorable.

The more that was revealed about Otto and Sonya’s relationship the more you kinda wanted him to succeed so he could be with his wife, and the more he connected with his neighbors the more you wanted him to live for them. It was a very nuanced and beautiful story and I truly think it was some of Tom Hanks best work. This was also one of Truman’s first real acting roles and he did a wonderful job, casting Tom Hanks son to play his younger self was brilliant not only because he obviously looks like his dad, but because he could mimic his dad's mannerisms making the transition from flashback to current day seamless.

The movie being under two hours was a refreshing change, movies have been quite long lately which isn’t all together a bad thing but it gets exhausting watching three hour movies all the time. Seeing a coherent and well fleshed out story be told in a tight 2 hour time limit was very nice to see.

Overall the film was brilliant, beautiful and very touching. It is arguably one of the most emotional films of the year. And the upsetting part about that is that I’ve seen next to nothing in response to this movie. It was perhaps too quiet in the overwhelming amount of amazing yet divisive movies of 2022. I give it 9.5 out of 10, half a point off because of re-watchability. You have to be in a specific mood for this film as it is in fact too sad to re-watch on a regular basis.