Movie Review: A Man Called Otto

By Amore Fannon

After a long year of me checking off my bucket list of movies and tv shows to watch, I finally reached my last movie on the list, and The movie was A Man Called Otto. After watching the trailer I’ll admit, it didn’t look like much. I thought it was just about a grumpy old man who hates life and everyone else in it, but I was wrong.

A Man Called Otto is based on a Swedish film called A Man Called Ove, which itself is an adaptation based on a novel. Tom Hanks plays the main character (Otto) and manages to steal everyone’s hearts throughout the movie. 

Tom Hanks delivers a great story while balancing all emotions in a way that doesn’t take away from its characters, and its heavier themes.  

The whole film follows Otto´s miserable life when one day his life starts to seemingly turn around when a new family moves in right across the street from him. At first, he rejects the couple, much like he rejects everybody in his life because it’s just him, and he believes he can only depend on himself. 

This story is the definition of ¨never judge a book by its cover¨, because it is very easy to dislike Otto, but we soon find out his backstory and can feel sympathy for him and understand why he is the way he is. We have all met an Otto in our life, or in some aspects have been an Otto. 

Even though he plays an antagonistic character, everyone wants him to come out as a better person.

Almost everyone who comes through in his life is symbolic of something that has happened in his life, or he is trying to overcome. Throughout the movie, life shows Otto that he has unfinished business, which gives him a different perspective on life, and how much his life matters. 

Overall. the storytelling is great, everything flows well, and the writing is really good. This film was beautiful and whole-hearted, not to mention amazing cinematography. In the end, you get a good laugh and might shed a few tears. 

The moral of this story is that everything happens for a reason, and there is more to life than being a grumpy old man.