Review: A Man Called Otto

Image courtesy of Columbia Pictures.

Marc Forster's good natured "A Man Called Otto" probably isn't that far removed from something you've seen before - in fact, if you've read Fredrick Backman's novel, "A Man Called Ove," or seen the 2016 Swedish movie of the same name, that's probably the reason.

But even if you haven't, those familiar with "Curb Your Enthusiasm" or the "Grumpy Old Men" films likely have an idea of what they have in store with "Otto," which feels like a mixture of a cranky old man story combined with "It's a Wonderful Life."

Shot in Pittsburgh, the film chronicles the tale of a grouch named Otto (Tom Hanks, playing against type), who is a stickler for the rules in the fussily-arranged row house complex in which he lives. He's the type who will scold you for putting the wrong piece of trash in the wrong bin or driving on a street where it says you shouldn't, and has no problem holding up the line at the grocery store if he believes he's being unfairly stiffed for a few cents.

Otto wasn't always this way, at least according to the flashbacks in which we see a disappointed young man who was rejected from the Army meet a beautiful and intelligent young woman named Sonya (Rachel Keller), who assisted kids who didn't belong to feel as if they did at the local school and helped Otto to find meaning in his life. The couple lost a child and, eventually, Otto lost Sonya to cancer.

In his present iteration, Otto is a pest to his neighbors, although most just shake their heads at his crotchety ways. Early in the film, Otto tries and fails multiple times to commit suicide to join his wife, but this all comes to a halt when a new family moves onto the block and starts to distract him by asking for favors and causing him to grudgingly comply with them.

The head of this new family is Marisol (Mariana Trevino, a scene stealer), a bubbly mother of two (and soon to be three) who can't drive worth a damn, a problem that inspires Otto to get involved. He begins giving her driving lessons, but also babysitting her children, all the while commenting on what a dolt he believes her well-intentioned but bumbling husband, Tommy (Manuel Garcia-Ruflo), to be.

Not a whole lot happens that you don't expect - grumpy old man gets new lease on life when he realizes that communicating with his neighbors is better than shutting himself off from the world and attempting suicide. He also gets involved in the affairs of other neighbors, including an aging couple that some shady real estate company is attempting to push out of the complex and a trans teenager who has been ostracized by his family.

While not all that original, "Otto" makes up for these deficits with some fine acting - there are a lot of solid supporting performances here, Hanks does his thing as always, and Trevino is delightful - and decent execution. Despite having seen the Swedish version of this film, which is about equal in quality, and knowing exactly where it was going, the film still manages to be affecting. It's a genial crowd pleaser that mostly works, despite its overly familiar scenario.