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In Marc Forster ’s genial, earnest yet unremarkable dramedy “A Man Called Otto,” the titular character Otto can’t pick his daily battles even if his life depended on it. Living in an unfussy suburban neighborhood of identical row houses somewhere in the Midwest, the aging man gets easily annoyed by every little misstep of a stranger. And his protests are so pronounced that they even rival Larry David ’s in an average episode of “Curb Your Enthusiasm.”

Portrayed by the beloved Tom Hanks in an indistinct performance that splits the difference between quirky and grounded, Otto is often right about his grievances, to his credit. Why should he pay for six feet of rope and waste a few extra cents, for instance, when he bought just a little over five? Why shouldn’t he warn inconsiderate drivers who often block garage doors or entitled neighbors who can’t as much as remember to close a gate and respect basic rules about trash disposal? Or pick up a fuss when the soulless real estate guys from the fictional and hilariously named “Dye & Merica” show up to sabotage the community’s peace?

Then again, not everything is as awful as Otto makes them out to be. And he could perhaps afford to have some manners himself, especially when a new, very pregnant neighbor drops by with a bowl of home-cooked meal as a courtesy.

If you’ve already seen 2015’s Oscar-nominated Swedish hit “ A Man Called Ove ” by Hannes Holm , a film that is not any better or worse than this middle-of-the-road American remake (yes, not all originals are automatically superior), you’ll know that Otto hasn’t always been this insufferable. In small doses of syrupy and visually overworked flashbacks, Forster and agile screenwriter David Magee show us that he was socially awkward even from his young days, but at least nice and approachable. With a squarely unstylish side-part haircut that aptly gives out a “nice but unworldly guy” vibe, young Otto (played by the star’s own son, Truman Hanks) had an interest in engineering, in figuring out how things work. His life apparently changed when he accidentally met the dreamy Sonya ( Rachel Keller ), who later on became his wife and passed away recently.

As was the case in “Ove,” Otto can’t wait to join his wife on the other side, but his frequent suicide attempts get interrupted in episodes that are sometimes awkwardly funny, and other times, just plain awkward. The chief interrupters of our get-off-my-lawn guy are the abovementioned new neighbors: the happily married-with-kids couple Marisol (a bubbly and scene-stealing Mariana Treviño , the absolute best thing about the film) and Tommy (Manuel Garcia-Ruflo), who often ask little favors from the grumpy Otto. There are also others in the neighborhood, like a kindly transgender teenager Malcolm (Mack Bayda) thrown out of his house by his dad, the fitness-obsessed Jimmy ( Cameron Britton ), Otto’s old friend Rueben ( Peter Lawson Jones), and his wife Anita (Juanita Jennings), who are no longer on cordial terms with Otto. And let’s not forget a stray cat that no one seems to know what to do with for a while.

The mystery is that none of the supporting personalities in this story can take a hint about Otto, at least not well into the film’s second act. Instead, all the characters collectively treat Otto with patience and acceptance, as if he isn’t being willfully rude to them every chance he gets. For example, it’s anyone’s guess why Otto’s work colleagues bother to throw him a retirement party when it will surely go unappreciated or why Marisol continuously insists on trying to bring out the good side of him when Otto offensively shuts down every one of her genuine attempts.

Still, the story manages to land some charms when Otto finally lets his guard down and starts making all the expected amends, while suffering a rare heart condition on the side. First, he becomes a local hero when he unwittingly saves someone’s life in front of a group of unhelpful people too preoccupied with their phones. Later on, he racks up additional goodwill when he takes Malcolm in and builds a slow yet steady friendship with Marisol, a rewarding storyline in an otherwise predictable tale.

But the biggest win of Forster’s adaptation is its worthwhile message about the small wins of everyday people who operate as a functioning and harmonious community against the evils of faceless corporations. “A Man Called Otto” isn’t exactly as philosophical as “ About Schmidt ” or as socially conscious as “ I, Daniel Blake ,” two films that occasionally hit similar notes. But it’s nevertheless a wholesome crowd-pleaser for your next family gathering.

In limited release now, wide on January 13th.

Tomris Laffly

Tomris Laffly is a freelance film writer and critic based in New York. A member of the New York Film Critics Circle (NYFCC), she regularly contributes to  RogerEbert.com , Variety and Time Out New York, with bylines in Filmmaker Magazine, Film Journal International, Vulture, The Playlist and The Wrap, among other outlets.

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Film Credits

A Man Called Otto (2022)

Rated PG-13

126 minutes

Tom Hanks as Otto Anderson

Mariana Treviño as Marisol

Kailey Hyman as Barb

Rachel Keller

Manuel Garcia-Rulfo

Cameron Britton

Mike Birbiglia

Elle Chapman as Sarah

• Marc Forster
• David Magee
• Matt Chesse

Director of Photography

• Matthias Koenigswieser
• Fredrik Backman

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Review: Tom Hanks gives ‘A Man Called Otto’ an easygoing sincerity

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It says something about the current state of studio filmmaking in Hollywood that all the things that make “A Man Called Otto” stand out are things that really should make it commonplace. The film is made with a level of craft and simple competence that has become shockingly rare. A genuine movie star is allowed to radiate charisma and charm, and all the performances have character nuance and emotional depth.

These should be the basic building blocks of Hollywood moviemaking and yet here we are, with “A Man Called Otto” feeling special for being a winsome dramedy with some effective moments of tearjerking tenderness. It’s not so much a matter of they don’t make them like this anymore as they should be making them like this all the time.

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Directed by Marc Forster, the film is based on the 2012 novel “A Man Called Ove” by Fredrik Backman, which became an international bestseller and previously was adapted into a 2016 Swedish film that earned two Oscar nominations. From a screenplay by David Magee, who this year also wrote the adapted screenplays for “Lady Chatterley’s Lover” and “The School for Good and Evil,” the new film finds enough ways to update the core material to keep it fresh.

As the film opens, Otto (Tom Hanks) is buying a few bits and pieces at a hardware store and then gets into an argument with a clerk about whether he is being overcharged by a few cents for a length of rope. Once he is back at his modest, meticulously kept row house, it is revealed that Otto plans to kill himself, but life keeps getting in the way.

There are his new neighbors, Marisol and Tommy (Mariana Treviño and Manuel Garcia-Rulfo), a young couple with two small children and expecting another. The trans kid who delivers the newspapers was a student of Otto’s deceased wife, a teacher. Otto also finds himself reconnecting with a pair of longtime neighbors with whom he had a falling-out. Even a self-styled “social media journalist” won’t leave him alone after Otto, who had intended to throw himself onto the tracks, saves a man from being struck by a train.

Otto seems at first to be a rigid, stuck-in-his-ways old man similar to the type Clint Eastwood has played recently in films such as “Gran Torino,” “The Mule” and “Cry Macho,” men who must learn to overcome their prejudices. Otto, largely because of circumstances revealed around his late wife (played in flashbacks by Rachel Keller), is more readily open-minded and open-hearted than those Eastwood characters. He is nevertheless endlessly aggravated by others for a perceived lack of knowledge or abilities.

The film is an odd companion to Hanks’ recent, more willfully weird turn as Colonel Tom Parker in “Elvis,” which found him working against an accent and prosthetics and a fanciful villainous characterization. His role in “Otto” plays to Hanks’ more obvious strengths, his essential affability even when he is presenting a gruff, unyielding exterior. The sweet heart of the character is never too far below the surface.

“A Man Called Otto” is also something of a family affair, with Rita Wilson, Hanks’ wife, as one of the producers and co-writing and performing the song “Til You’re Home.” In flashback scenes, young Otto is played by one of Hanks’ and Wilson’s children, Truman Hanks. And in one of the film’s slyer jokes, the hip-hop song “White Boy Summer” by their son Chet Hanks is used to personify a certain kind of clueless obliviousness in others.

The real standout in the supporting cast is Treviño, a comedy star in her native Mexico who brings real energy and feeling to her role as one of Otto’s new neighbors. She barges into Otto’s orderly life and brings a bit of chaos with her, inserting a much-needed liveliness into the movie as well. Mike Birbiglia is also well cast playing against type as a sleazy real estate developer.

It is not meant as faint praise to say that “A Man Called Otto” is nice. The film has an easygoing, please-like-me quality that somehow never comes off as desperate but instead gives it a reassuring quality, like a mug of warm tea. It’s borderline corny, but sometimes corny can mean unselfconscious, willing to be unguarded in its sincerity. The tender message of hopefulness and spiritual renewal is a welcome tonic as the year comes to a close.

'A Man Called Otto'

Rated: PG-13 for mature thematic material involving suicide attempts, and language. Running time: 2 hours, 6 minutes Playing: Starts Dec. 30, AMC the Grove, Los Angeles; AMC Century City

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A Man Called Otto

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Watch A Man Called Otto with a subscription on Netflix, rent on Fandango at Home, Prime Video, Apple TV, or buy on Fandango at Home, Prime Video, Apple TV.

What to Know

Check all cynicism at the door and allow A Man Called Otto to tug at your heartstrings with its tried-and-true tune -- it just might sing.

With a perfect Tom Hanks in the lead, A Man Called Otto is almost guaranteed to make you laugh and cry.

Audience Reviews

Cast & crew.

Marc Forster

Otto Anderson

Mariana Treviño

Rachel Keller

Manuel Garcia-Rulfo

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A Man Called Otto review – Tom Hanks goes grumpy in remake of quirky Swedish yarn

Neither the comedy nor the inherently lovable Hanks are dark enough to bring this remake of an odd redemption story to life

S even years ago, a frankly peculiar, quirky dramedy-heartwarmer from Sweden appeared: A Man Called Ove , based on the bestselling novel by Fredrik Backman. It was about a grumpy old widower who snaps at everyone on his street – officiously enforcing the Neighbourhood-Watch-type rules about parking and recycling – and keeps on trying to take his own life. These attempts are continually thwarted when he spots some local outside his house breaking some bylaw and Ove can’t resist rushing out to remonstrate. But a nerdy, sweet-natured young couple move in next door and insist on befriending Ove, and their artless friendship relieves Ove’s repressed sadness and affords him redemption. Ove was played in the original by Rolf Lassgård (Wallander on Swedish TV) and now by Tom Hanks – renamed Otto – in this Hollywood remake from screenwriter David Magee and director Marc Forster. The goofy-friendly new neighbours are played by Mariana Treviño and Manuel Garcia-Rulfo.

Hanks’s performance amplifies and colourises the original curmudgeon, and his star-quality soups up the drama and makes a clearer sense of the backstory, yet the very fact of it being Hanks means that we never for a moment believe that he really is going to be that nasty (or that unhappy) for long. Soon, the lovable Hanks will surely reappear, and it duly does as the sad story of his late wife emerges in sucrose flashback – although she is always a bland cipher, not a convincing person. Finally, of course, Otto is going to be absolutely adorable. With his fierce short haircut and blank, open face he looks very familiar. Not grump, but Gump.

But just as with the original, the real problems come with those wacky unsuccessful attempts to kill himself; they represent the same jarring and baffling tonal misjudgment. Newspapers are very restricted about what they can describe on this subject; not so the cinema, which is (rightly) afforded artistic freedom. But the scenes with Hanks buying the means from a hardware store, arguing about the change with the manager, then unhilariously having to abandon his plan in order to tell someone off … it’s not serious enough to do justice to the subject, not dark enough for scabrous black comedy, or funny enough for comedy of any sort, being weirdly sentimental from the outset.

Otherwise, the movie follows the form of the original pretty faithfully, although the gay teenage boy that Ove helps in the first film is now trans. Hanks carries the film with his personality and his easy address to the camera, but this oddity of a film never quite comes to life.

A Man Called Otto is released on 25 December in the US, on 1 January in Australia and on 6 January in the UK.

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‘a man called otto’ review: tom hanks in a predictable but touching portrait of grief and resilience.

The Oscar winner plays the title role in this remake of the hit Swedish film about a curmudgeonly widower learning to embrace life again.

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Set in an unnamed Rust Belt town that has clearly seen better days (the movie was filmed in Pittsburgh), this American version directed by Marc Forster ( Finding Neverland ) closely follows its Swedish predecessor in most regards. Otto, who has recently been pushed out of his engineering managerial job, mainly spends his time scowling and grunting at anyone who has the temerity to cross his path and enforcing the rules of his gated neighborhood, which is controlled by the sort of real-estate company whose smarmy representative ( Mike Birbiglia , in a role making little use of his comic talents) would have made a suitable villain in a Frank Capra movie.  

His humanity only emerges during his regular visits to her grave, where he makes it clear that he intends to join her soon. It’s also revealed in a series of flashbacks to his younger days, in which the young Otto (Truman Hanks, Tom’s son, bearing an uncanny resemblance to his old man) has a meet-cute with Sonya (Rachel Keller, suitably endearing) when he boards a train going in the wrong direction in order to return a book she’s dropped. We see the couple moving into the home where the middle-aged Otto still lives and making friends with their neighbors, and then Sonya getting pregnant and tragically losing the baby in a bus accident that results in her being confined to a wheelchair.

The storyline’s less convincing elements include Otto becoming a social media sensation after he’s filmed rescuing an elderly man who’s fallen onto train tracks. That allows him to exploit his newfound fame when the real estate company attempts to evict his longtime neighbors after they experience major health issues. It’s the sort of melodramatic plot contrivance that feels wholly unnecessary, as if screenwriter David Magee didn’t trust that the story of a grief-stricken man regaining his will to live would carry enough emotional weight.

But it’s hard to mind too much, thanks to Hanks’ perfectly modulated, understated performance — he’s truly moving when you feel Otto’s frost slowly starting to thaw — and the welcome comic moments that alleviate the film’s more heavy-handed aspects. There’s a particularly wonderful moment when Otto winds up in the hospital after collapsing in the street and Marisol is gravely informed that his heart is “too big.” Instead of registering alarm, she collapses into hysterical laughter, with Otto having the grace to fully get the joke.

Although A Man Called Otto never fully rises above its obvious plot machinations, director Forster thankfully applies a fairly restrained, subtle approach. The result is a film to which you ultimately find yourself succumbing even though you never stop being aware that your heartstrings are being shamelessly pulled.

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Unanimous media to produce saul “canelo” álvarez documentary, ‘a man called otto’ review: tom hanks, mariana trevino & a cat make this american remake irresistible.

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When you have an international best seller that was on the NYT list for 42 weeks and then made into a multi-Oscar-nominated Swedish film that became the third-most successful in the history of that country Ingmar Bergman called home, you might wonder what the need was for an English-language American remake. The answer is a chance to give Tom Hanks a role he can run with and, more important, to bring a very human, often funny, character-driven story back to light in a time that needs it more than ever.

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Screenwriter David Magee and director Marc Forster have not altered the basic plot for this Pittsburgh-set remake titled A Man Called Otto , but unlike another Pittsburgh-set Hanks movie, 2019’s A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, which earned Hanks a Supporting Oscar nomination as the gentle Mister Rogers, this one gives its star to operate at full-crank levels until we inevitably see his transformation into a man with a very big heart. We know it is coming, and that is what makes the familiarity of this tale work so well. It is comforting, and Hanks navigates it with the expert skill you would expect. It is nice to see him doing comedy again as well. It has been awhile, but this earns its laughs and smiles in completely believable ways, never forced, thank God.

Forster and Magee also use flashbacks of the younger Otto (played by Hanks’ real-life youngest son and uncanny lookalike Truman Hanks) and Sonya (Rachel Keller) as they meet, marry, endure tragedy and share a life. The flashbacks are not intrusive and really add to our understanding of just who Otto was, and perhaps why he became the way he is today. Both young stars are well cast in a movie that knows exactly what it is doing in order to win our hearts. Also in the cast is Mike Birbiglia as a corporate real estate company rep who plays the “villain” of sorts, but his character is pretty one-dimensional.

Matthias Koenigswieser’s fine cinematography fulfills the changing needs of the film’s visual style perfectly, Barbara Ling’s production design serves the story well, and there is a lovely score to match by Thomas Newman. A song by Rita Wilson and David Hodges, “Til You’re Home,” is a perfect touch at the end and already has been Oscar-shortlisted .

The reason this American remake is so vital, at least to me, is that it ultimately is a story of human connection coming at a time of unprecedented divisiveness and heartlessness in an America that seems to have truly lost its way. This is somewhat a return to a bit of old-style Frank Capra spirit in a social media age, and a family film that serves a purpose to remind us the good within us, no matter how deep down you have to dig.

Producers are Hanks, Wilson, Gary Goetzman and the Swedish film’s original producer Fredrick Wikstrom Nicastro. Sony Pictures opens the Columbia release Friday in a limited LA/NY exclusive run before going wide on January 13.

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Review: A Man Called Otto

Image: ©Sony Pictures

In A Man Called Otto , Otto Anderson is an elderly man who lives in a delightful housing community, surrounded by friendly neighbours. However, Otto is far from friendly himself, and in recent times, he has become grouchy and irascible.

Otto’s change in mood and attitude is largely connected to the death of his wife, Sonya, who passed away a short time ago. Since Sonya died, Otto has cut himself off from the community, and has become increasingly disgruntled with the world.

One day, after reaching the end of his tolerance for everything, Otto buys a length of rope, calls his utility providers to have his services disconnected, and tries to commit suicide. However, his attempt to kill himself is interrupted by the sudden (and slightly chaotic) arrival of new neighbours, and this puts his plans on hold.

Over the next few days, Otto makes further attempts to end his life, but every time he tries to kill himself outside forces get in the way. He also finds himself being drawn back into the lives of those within his local community, including new neighbour Marisol, who continually reaches out to him despite his acerbic nature.

Directed by Marc Forster, A Man Called Otto stars Tom Hanks, Mariana Treviño, Rachel Keller, and Truman Hanks. The movie is based on the book A Man Called Ove by Hannes Holm, which has previously been adapted into a 2015 Swedish movie of the same name.

A Man Called Otto is a drama-comedy, which looks at the impact that grief can have on a person. It throws a spotlight on how difficult it can be to move on from the death of a loved one, and how tragedy can transform the trajectory of a person’s life.

The film tackles some emotional and hard-hitting subjects, with suicide and death being a continuous theme throughout the story. As such, it is often quite a sombre affair, likely to draw a tear or two.

However, despite the moving material in the film, A Man Called Otto is humorous in places, occasionally touching, and from time-to-time it is thought-provoking. As someone who can be a little grumpy (to say the least), I found myself captured by its premise and its central character, I was compelled throughout, and came away with much to think about.

Tom Hanks takes on the part of Otto, and as you might expect, he is perfect in the role. Hanks is a pro in the acting game, I don’t need to tell you this, and he manages to find the right balance of anger and sadness within Otto to provide a complex character who has somehow fallen through the cracks in society.

Whereas once upon a time Otto was an important player in his neighbourhood, and someone filled with love and compassion, now he is a man who gets worked up by the slightest inconvenience. He gets angry at road users, at shop workers, and pretty much anyone he meets on the street.

Some actors would play this role completely one note, making Otto either unlikeable or unreachable. But Hanks finds the right pitch, being able to demonstrate Otto’s dissatisfaction and heartache, while ensuring the audience can see the mental health crisis he is suffering while battling with his grief.

To back Hanks up, there is a small ensemble of actors who play Otto’s well-meaning neighbours and they are essentially his anchors to the world. Chief amongst these is Mariana Treviño who plays Marisol – a friendly young mother, who keeps pushing her way into Otto’s life, despite his best efforts to keep her at a distance.

As Marisol, Treviño is the perfect foil for Hanks and they work together very well. As with Hanks, Treviño plays the role just right, making it clear why she is able to get close to him when others have failed.

Outside of the lead actors, A Man Called Otto benefits from strong direction from Marc Forster, as well as a solid screenplay by David Magee. The pair previously teamed up on 2004’s Finding Neverland (2004) and they have worked their magic once again for this film.

A Man Called Otto also has another ace up its sleeve in production designer Barbara Ling. Ling – who once worked on the Joel Schumacher Batman movies of the 1990s – helps to create a believable housing community for Otto to reside in, and the look and feel of the neighbourhood becomes an important part of the story.

While A Man Called Otto may repeat some well-worn movie tropes at times, its central premise, its direction, and its cast keep things moving along nicely. The film also delivers an important message about togetherness, and acts as a timely reminder to check in on family, friends, and neighbours, who might be struggling during this post-Christmas/New Year slump better known as ‘deepest darkest January’.

Should you wish to watch A Man Called Otto for yourself, the movie arrives in UK cinemas on Friday January 6 th . If you live in the US, the film is currently playing in limited theatres in New York and Los Angeles, but will be going country-wide on January 13 th .

Thank you for taking the time to read this review on It’s A Stampede! . For more reviews, check out the recommended reads below.

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Review: A grumpy Tom Hanks stars in ‘A Man Called Otto’

This image released by Sony Pictures shows Tom Hanks in a scene from “A Man Called Otto.” (Niko Tavernise/Sony Pictures via AP)

This image released by Sony Pictures shows Tom Hanks, left, in a scene from “A Man Called Otto.” (Niko Tavernise/Sony Pictures via AP)

This image released by Sony Pictures shows Tom Hanks, right, and Mariana Treviño in a scene from “A Man Called Otto.” (Niko Tavernise/Sony Pictures via AP)

This image released by Sony Pictures shows Tom Hanks, left, and Mariana Treviño in a scene from “A Man Called Otto.” (Dennis Mong/Sony Pictures via AP)

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Sentimental tales about grumpy old men and American decline have, until recently, typically been the domain of Clint Eastwood.

But in “A Man Called Otto,” Marc Forster’s adaptation of Fredrik Backman’s bestseller and a remake of the 2016 Swedish film “A Man Called Ove,” it’s Tom Hanks prowling the neighborhood and irritably grumbling about how things used to be. In the original, Rolf Lassgård richly inhabited the role of Ove, a curmudgeonly widower — a Forrest Grump —whose suicide attempts are foiled by needy neighbors and, ultimately, his grudging, sincere devotion to them.

Exasperation, whether directed at a crying ballplayer or a slobbering canine, has always been squarely in Hanks’ wheelhouse. But despondency or even plain get-off-my-lawn orneriness are less obvious traits possessed by the actor sometimes called “America’s Dad.” Following Hanks’ villainous turn as Col. Tom Parker in “Elvis,” the 66-year-old has found in “A Man Called Otto” another role that interestingly, if not always entirely successfully, caters to his strengths while tweaking his familiar screen presence.

It also may rob “A Man Called Otto,” which opens with Otto buying rope to hang himself with, of some of its spirit. We know there are dark roads that Hanks just isn’t going to go down, and some of the early, more caustic scenes of Forster’s film strike a false note. But as “A Man Called Otto” makes its way through Otto’s life, cutting between his present-day squabbles and flashbacks of happier times with his wife, Sonya (Rachel Keller), Hanks movingly tailors the role to himself. How “A Man Called Otto” unfolds won’t surprise anyone, but it does the trick for a little post-holidays heart-warming.

“A Man Called Otto” is set in the prefab row-house development Otto has long lived in, where he tirelessly tisk-tisks any rule breakers, re-sorts misplaced recycling and berates drivers who violate the street’s regulation against through traffic.

Screenwriter David Magee (“Life of Pi,” “Finding Neverland”) hues closely to the Swedish film as a kind of parable of community. Up and down the street are all the people the freshly retired Otto barely tolerates: friends-turned-enemies (Peter Lawson Jones, Juanita Jennings), a friendly exerciser (a delightful Cameron Britton), a transgender paper deliverer and former student of Otto’s wife (Mack Bayda). Most of all there is Marisol (a terrific Mariana Treviño), a pregnant mother of two has just moved in with her husband (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo). Various needs — a stray cat, a borrowed ladder, driving lessons — intrude on Otto’s desires for a peaceful death and, in between aborted suicide attempts, gradually rekindle his will to live.

It’s sometimes too broadly drawn. Mike Birbiglia plays a predatory real estate agent from a company not-so-subtly called Dye & Merica. (“Sounds like Dying America, which it is,” says Otto.) But “A Man Called Otto” is less after realism than it is a modern-day fable, with shades of Scrooge and the Grinch. As a tale of a solitary man, Hanks has made it a poignant work of family. Rita Wilson, his wife, is a producer and is heard singing a song in the film. The younger Otto is played in flashbacks by their son, Truman Hanks. Even Chet Hanks’ “White Boy Summer” blares from a car radio.

Another tune, though, is a more thrilling needle drop. The less said probably the better, but suffice to say, it could be a sign that the Kate Bush renaissance so hearteningly kicked up by “Stranger Things” has not yet abated. If that’s not life-affirming, I don’t know what is.

“A Man Called Otto,” a Sony Pictures release, is rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association for mature thematic material involving suicide attempts, and language. Running time: 126 minutes. Two and a half stars out of four.

Follow AP Film Writer Jake Coyle on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/jakecoyleAP

A Man Called Otto Review

A Man Called Otto

The 2015 Swedish film A Man Called Ove — adapted from the novel of the same name by Fredrik Backman — is a very Scandinavian brand of feelgoodery: one which sees its hero regularly try to kill himself. It became a huge hit in its native country, beloved for its flinty anti-hero and morbid sense of humour, and remains the third biggest film of all time at the Swedish box office. Hollywood, inevitably, came calling soon after.

Like many English-language remakes, A Man Called Otto doesn’t totally justify its existence — you can’t help but wonder, when films are so easily available online, why not just point audiences to the original? But it does at least pull off a significant casting coup, in the form of Tom Hanks .

Tom Hanks is so good that the film suffers somewhat when he's not on screen.

Last seen this grouchy when announcing there was no crying in baseball, Hanks is clearly relishing playing against type here, abandoning his “America’s Dad” persona to step into Otto’s short-fused slippers. It’s a typically excellent lead performance, misanthropic yet good-hearted, Hanks finding and elevating the humanity in the character. (He is particularly adept at smiling without ever losing his frown.)

He’s so good, in fact, that the film suffers somewhat when he’s not on screen. It’s undoubtedly a lovely touch to cast Hanks’ real-life son Truman as the younger Otto in repeated flashbacks, fleshing out his early life and marriage to Sonya (Rachel Keller), but those scenes are by far the weakest, treacly and overly rose-tinted, and have an adverse effect on the film’s pace. It’s a constant tonal plate-spinning act, balancing the comic elements with the repeated scenes of attempted suicide, and despite its sharper edges, director Marc Forster doesn’t quite avoid sugary clichés.

What keeps it consistently likeable, Hanks aside, are the actors surrounding him. There’s a great role for Juanita Jennings as one of Otto’s estranged neighbours, and a surprisingly moving subplot about a trans teen in Otto’s life, played by trans actor Mack Bayda. Best among the ensemble is Mexican actor Mariana Treviño as Marisol, the mother of a new family living across the street from Otto; her vivacity and genial zest for life gives a supposedly grouchy film its warm heart. The It’s-A-Wonderful-Life -y message that eventually comes — that no man is a failure who has friends — is ultimately hard to snub.

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“A Man Called Ove vs. A Man Called Otto: Exploring the Transformative Journey from Page to Screen”

January 21, 2024

A Man Called Ove vs. A Man Called Otto: Exploring the Transformative Journey from Page to Screen

In the world of literature, there are often discussions about whether on-screen adaptations of books are particularly faithful to the vivid and original plot shown on paper. So, let’s put books and movies in the WWE ring 🥊 as we talk about whether or not that is the case for Fredrik Backman’s heartwarming novel “ A Man Called Ove ” and its cinematic adaptation, as well as a hypothetical reimagination titled “A Man Called Otto.” (I’m aware there is another remake of the book –> “A Man Called Ove”,  Director: Hannes Holm, Actor: Rolf Lassgård, but I have not watched that)

*SPOILERS AHEAD* *SPOILERS AHEAD* *SPOILERS AHEAD* *SPOILERS AHEAD* *SPOILERS AHEAD* 

“A Man Called Ove” by Fredrick Backman is a Swedish novel published in 2012. In this novel, the main character otherwise aka Ove is a prickly, rule-abiding, 59-year-old Swedish man, who is on a mission to unalive himself… For those unfamiliar with the backstory, Ove’s wife Sonja has recently passed away, leaving Ove shattered and depressed. Sonja was his true love, his entire world, and when she died, Ove was left with no job, nothing. But the problem he has with completing his mission is that he never seems to get the job done, whenever he is ready, something out of the ordinary happens with his nosy neighbors, disrupting him.  

“A Man Called Otto” directed by Mark Forster and played by Tom Hanks, is the movie adaptation of the book “A Man Called Ove”. The movie is very charming and heartfelt which truly emphasizes Otto’s emotions and feelings after his wife Sonya died. In the movie he is very oriented to the rules in his neighborhood, always scolding the people who break them, until he meets a Hispanic family next door who quickly become his family. 

Characters, similarities, differences:

Both the book and the movie, start with a customer service interaction, (one in a hardware store for Otto, and one in an electronics store for Ove), they are both arguing which shows they both have cranky personalities. In the movie, it hits the floor running by letting the viewers know that Otto is planning to off himself in the first few minutes. In the book, it’s more disguised and not so readily displayed.

Also, one of the main differences is the neighbor’s ethnicity, in the book the neighbors are immigrants from the Middle East moving to Sweden, and in the movie, they are Hispanic moving to the United States.

In “A Man Called Ove” there is a side character named Adrian in his twenties whose bike is broken, Ove at first dismisses the boy’s ask for assistance. Still, later he finds out that Adrian was trying to fix the bike up for his girlfriend and he is swamped working multiple jobs, trying to save up money. Later on, he visits Adrian at one of his workplaces and comes to find out that one of Adrian’s gay co-workers, Mirsad had been recently kicked out of his homophobic dad’s house. Ove reluctantly took him in for some time, just until he could get back up on his feet.

On the other hand, in the movie adaption, “A Man Called Otto”, they changed Mirsad’s name to Malcolm, and instead of identifying as homosexual, he identified as transgender. They consolidated Mirsad and Adrian’s characters into one, Malcolm. A similar storyline is followed, being that Malcolm has also been kicked out and he was also a kid working multiple jobs to save up for a car. 

In the movie, they don’t show a minor character, Malcolms’ father, whereas on the other hand, Amel is one of the main side characters revealed. There is some heavy character development in the book where Amel has a change of heart about Mirsad after talking to Ove, resulting in taking Mirsad back in. 

Tom, another character that was cut from the movie was an obnoxious and rude employee at the train company Ove worked at. In the movie, Tom is spread out into various characters. Another minor character that was not incorporated into the movie was José. 

As the flashbacks were shown in the movie of young Sonya and Otto they didn’t portray the Spain tour they took. In the book, the couple meets José who runs the hotel the couple stays at on their bus tour while taking their tour of Spain, Ove and José quickly become friends after observing Ove repair an elderly woman’s car, José extends them complimentary food, leading to the growth of a newfound friendship. 

In the movie, Ove’s mother and Sonja’s father weren’t alluded to, whereas in “A Man Called Ove,” Ove experienced the loss of his mother at a young age, followed by his father in a tragic accident on the train tracks. As for Sonja’s father, in the book, he is solemn and introverted, who is similar to Ove as he doesn’t like interactions. In the book, Ove and Sonja’s father had a really good bond, and the book also depicted that the passing away of Sonja affected Ove and Sonja’s father deeply. In the movie, Sonya’s father isn’t revealed.

Also, in both the book and the movie Ove and Otto end up housing a cat, taking it in, and completing a close and heartfelt bond.  In the movie and the book, Otto and Ove both rule followers down to the “T”. They both harass their neighbors with petty complaints about neighborhood regulations.

Also, another similarity is that they both show Ove/Otto lying to Sonja/Sonya about being in the military, when in reality he isn’t able to go to the military because of a heart condition. In the movie, the neighbors are also renters instead of homeowners. In the movie, the main looming conflict was that the development wanted to buy the houses in the neighborhood.

In the book, after 4 years pass, Ove passes away due to natural causes and ends up leaving everything to his neighbor and the children of the neighborhood. She starts a charity for orphans in his name and over 300 people show up to his funeral.

Otto, in the book, also passes away and succumbed to his heart condition after a couple of years. He left a note behind explaining that if he died, it was not because he hurt himself, it was natural. He said that he would like to give Malcolm his car, Otto had also made arrangements with his lawyer to leave his home and money, as well as the cat, to his neighboring family. The family organizes a funeral for Otto, drawing a respectable turnout. Jimmy, one of his neighbors, and Malcolm pledge to continue Otto’s customary rounds. Otto, signing the letter as “Abuelo Otto,” leaves a heartfelt legacy. The final scene poignantly reveals his resting place beside Sonya.

Conclusion:

In the epic showdown between “A Man Called Ove” and the whimsical reimagining of “A Man Called Otto,”  Ove and Otto, both adorned with cranky exteriors and hearts of gold, embark on a journey to find fulfillment and happiness in their lives as they meet quirky neighbors, and loving connections who are with them through the way. As some characters change names, ethnicities, and genders, the essence of human connection remains faithful. Whether it’s Ove’s and Otto’s rule-abiding, meticulous personality, the magic of storytelling rings true as unexpected friendships go from written words to spoken on screen.

The plot intertwines the spine of the book with the director’s camera creating a tale, so heartwarming that it celebrates both literature and cinema. So, in this storytelling ring, embrace the heartwarming journey with Ove and Otto. Grab some popcorn, turn the pages, or hit play on your remote, and relish the enchanting fusion of written and visual narratives! 📚🍿✨

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'A Man Called Otto' & 'A Man Called Ove': A Tale of Two Adaptations

'A Man Called Ove' and 'A Man Called Otto' are two films based on the same book, but are quite different in several key ways.

Editor's Note: The following contains references to suicide.

Though the posters and TV spots for A Man Called Otto may make it look like just another Tom Hanks star vehicle or the latest in a long line of tearjerker dramas about cantankerous old men learning to appreciate life, there’s a much more complicated history behind this movie. A Man Called Otto began life as A Man Called Ove , a Swedish novel by Fredrik Backman published in 2012 that was later adapted into a 2015 film of the same name directed by Hannes Holm . To put it simply, this story has gone through a lot of different incarnations in just over a decade.

Having not read the original Ove book, I cannot offer any commentary on how the text differs from this American film adaptation. But having seen the A Man Called Ove film, I’m much more qualified to explore the differences between the two film adaptations of Backman’s work. The general narratives of both features remain the same while Otto retains a surprisingly sizeable portion of its predecessor’s darker material (namely all those on-screen suicide attempts) rather than diluting the source material for North American sensibilities. But within those narratives exists a sizable number of differences that reflect a lot of underlying creative ambitions of Otto .

Differences Between 'A Man Called Otto' & 'A Man Called Ove'

The fundamental differences between A Man Called Ove and A Man Called Otto are apparent from the start. In Otto , the characters speak English and live in America rather than talk in Swedish and reside in Sweden. These surface-level adjustments are why the character of Ove is now called Otto (Tom Hanks) in the American remake. The variations between the two adaptations are also instantly noticeable due to their respective opening scenes. Both films do begin with their titular protagonists trying to purchase something and getting into a confrontation with the cashier. However, Ove opens with its lead trying to buy flowers for his deceased wife’s grave while Otto hits the ground running by showing Otto attempting to buy rope for a noose he’ll use to hang himself.

RELATED: 'A Man Called Otto' Shows What It’s Like to Be Poor in America

While both scenes accomplish one specific goal (to demonstrate that Otto is crusty and bound to pick a fight with anyone), they choose to reveal different facets of the character in introducing him to audiences. Ove chooses to immediately make it apparent that heartbreak is driving this man’s life. He may be a nightmare to talk to, but he can show affection toward others. Meanwhile, Otto keeps viewers a bit more in the dark about what’s going on with its lead character. We know he wants to commit suicide (why else would he attempt to tie a knot in the store?) but not the reasons why. There’s more of a mystery surrounding Otto compared to Ove.

Both Adaptations Use Flashbacks in Different Ways

The story of A Man Called Ove hinges heavily on flashbacks. Each time Ove attempts suicide, the camera cuts to visions of his past to replicate the sensation that Ove is seeing his life flash before his eyes. These flashbacks in Ove encompass the whole span of his life, from his childhood growing up with a single father to his initial flirtations with the woman that would become his life to the events that carved a bitter shell around his soul.

A Man Called Otto preserves the presence of flashbacks and primarily utilizes them during moments when it looks like Otto is about to end it all. However, they’ve now been compressed heavily. Otto’s father only appears briefly in his flashbacks, instilling in the boy his lifelong love for Chevy automobiles. We do not see Otto’s dad get hit by a train and die just after his son hit a massive education milestone, as we did in A Man Called Ove , with Otto only off-handedly mentioning in one of the flashbacks that his father recently passed away. Other key events from Ove’s past, such as his neighbor’s house catching fire and leading to the destruction of his childhood home, are also gone.

Instead, the focus of the flashbacks (beyond a quick montage of Otto's childhood) begins when Otto meets Sonya (Rachel Keller), the woman who would become his wife. While their meeting in A Man Called Ove is by chance (a homeless Ove stows away on a train to get some rest and awakens sitting across from a beautiful lady), here, Otto sees Sonya drop a book and then rushes to return it to her. This establishes that the flashbacks in Otto are almost exclusively focused on the relationship between Sonya and Otto. In another contrast to Ove , A Man Called Otto often has the older present-day version of Otto briefly appear in these flashback sequences. There was a great dividing line between the past and present in the Ove flashbacks, whereas Otto blurs the lines a bit more to indicate how consumed Otto is by memories of yesteryear.

These alterations mostly seem to be done to adjust to the expectations of mainstream American moviegoers. The flashbacks in A Man Called Ove go on for a lengthy period of time and intentionally convey the idea that they hail from an entirely different movie. General audiences might have far less patience for extended digressions like this, so the flashbacks in Otto have been compressed for time and created more apparent connections between the two periods in Otto’s life. It may be a concession for broad accessibility, but the interesting visual cues used to incorporate older Otto into his memories of the past work well enough to make this a decently realized alteration

'A Man Called Otto' Offers New Takes on Familiar Characters

In the present-day segments, much of Otto’s life is very similar to the existence of Ove. He’s still got neighbors like a lady and her tiny dog or an exuberant jogger to deal with. A new family moving in keeps delaying his plans to end his life. Even his former pal Reuben, who has been paralyzed, is maintained. However, specific details in many of these neighbors have been changed. For starters, in both iterations of this story, that new family hails from a different culture than Otto’s, forcing him to open his horizons and mind. In Ove , though, that family is led by Iranian immigrant Parvaneh ( Bahar Pars ), whereas in Otto , the most prominent member of the family is mother Marisol ( Mariana Treviño ). The personalities of both women are largely the same (boisterous, witty, able to handle Ove/Otto in any conversation), but their respective countries of origin reflect varying immigrant populations considered extremely prominent in either Sweden or America.

An especially interesting character change comes in how A Man Called Otto translates the two characters Adrian ( Simon Edenroth ) and Mirsad ( Poyan Karimi ). In A Man Called Ove , Adrian is a twenty-something who wants to fix a bike that Ove initially dismisses as just being a troublemaking youngster. However, Ove later learns that Adrian wants to fix the bike for his girlfriend and that this kid is working multiple jobs. While visiting him at an eatery he works for, Ove encounters Mirsad, Adrian’s co-worker and a gay man. Later on, Mirsad is thrown out of his house by his homophobic father, and Ove, initially reluctantly, lets him stay over for a while.

In A Man Called Otto , these two characters are consolidated into Malcolm ( Mack Bayda ). He's also a twenty-something male with a bike that Otto originally underestimates. However, in this version, Malcolm, unlike Adrian, is trans, which has him filling in the role of a younger queer character in the narrative. Malcolm continues to function like Mirsad later on in the story once his dad kicks him out of his house for being trans and Otto allows this guy to stay over. Like Mirsad, Malcolm makes breakfast for Otto the next morning and joins this cranky man on his morning errands. The details of Adrian and Mirsad are still alive and well in A Man Called Otto , but they’ve just been shifted into one new character.

The present-day sequences also contain variations in the form of Otto clinging more tightly to physical reminders of his deceased spouse compared to Ove (though this could be present in the book). Coats that used to be long to Sonya are spilling out of a coat rack right next to Otto’s staircase while this man clings to a quarter that he connects to fond memories of Sonya. The latter element informs Otto’s interpretation of a memorable sequence from A Man Called Ove concerning this elderly guy getting into a skirmish with a clown.

In the original film, their conflict solely stemmed from Ove’s cantankerous behavior and his inability to be patient with people. In A Man Called Otto , this physical altercation occurs because Beppo the Clown (amusingly, one of the few characters in this American movie to retain his Swedish name) uses Otto’s quarter for a magic trick and doesn’t instantly return it afterward. It’s another way A Man Called Otto is deviating from the original film adaptation of this novel to demonstrate how the past is adversely impacting Otto’s present-day world.

What Do 'A Man Called Otto's Changes Signify?

The final act of A Man Called Otto is largely the same as A Man Called Ove , with only minor differences occurring here. In both versions, the film’s lead character and all the neighborhood inhabitants swoop in to ensure that Rune/Reuben is not taken away from his home. However, in A Man Called Otto , a real estate developer is the antagonist tasked with retrieving Rune/Reuben. Meanwhile, the film’s endings are almost exactly the same, but the final shots do differ. A Man Called Ove closes with the residents of Ove’s neighborhood returning home and the camera panning upward, with the emphasis here being on all the people Ove touched in his life . A Man Called Otto , meanwhile, closes out on a shot of Otto’s tombstone, showing him buried next to his wife while little trinkets around the grave suggest that Marisol and her kids visit the site regularly.

The changes to A Man Called Otto compared to the original A Man Called Ove film are occasionally amusing (a newspaper journalist in the initial movie becomes “a social media journalist” in Otto …whatever that means) but most seem to have been made out of practicality. The number of characters in the story has been consolidated while the scope of the flashbacks has also been shrunk down. These changes also demonstrate a welcome willingness on the part of A Man Called Otto to deliver something different that you couldn’t just get from rewatching A Man Called Ove at home.

Which movie is better? It’s hard to say. A Man Called Ove and A Man Called Otto have such different sensibilities as pieces of filmmaking that it can feel a bit like comparing apples and oranges trying to parse out which one is the superior take on the life of this curmudgeon. The willingness to go subtle in displaying internalized torment in Ove likely gives that film the edge, but the unique traits in Otto’s interpretation of this story make it clear that this is no shameless carbon copy of what’s worked in the past.

Tom Hanks’ New Movie A Man Called Otto Is Based On A Popular Book

Tom Hanks stars as a grouch whose heart is melted by his pregnant neighbor.

Tom Hanks is really playing against type in the new movie A Man Called Otto . Everyone’s favorite dad is a curmudgeon named Otto, a man best described as a grump. A man who does not like change or chaos or disorder. Until his new neighbors, a pregnant woman with her husband and son, who do not give him a choice about opening up his heart. All of which sounds like a perfect book. But is it?

A Man Called Otto is based on a popular book.

A Man Called Otto is based on the 2012 book A Man Called Ove , written by Swedish author Fredrick Bachman and translated by Henning Koch. The book was on the New York Times bestseller list, and this is in fact the second film adaptation made from the original story. The book synopsis reads almost exactly like the film’s, which presumably means that director Marc Foster was loyal to the original story.

In A Man Called Otto , Otto is a rigid, cranky, strict widower who essentially rules over his neighborhood with an iron fist. He has regimented rules for everything and all of his neighbors are expected to follow them to the letter. Until a young family moves in next door, and they are not interested in his rules. Marisol (Mariana Treviño) is a quick-witted pregnant mom of one who has no time for Otto’s rules. In fact, she’s hoping he will be a friend to her husband (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo) as the family settles in to the neighborhood. And Otto, against his will, finds that Marisol might be able to open him up to a new kind of family after all.

Tom Hanks’ son Truman plays him as a younger man in the movie.

In a flashback scene from when Otto was younger, he is played by Hanks’ youngest son Truman, who he shares with wife Rita Wilson. It was a decision that was all Truman’s . “We talked about it a lot and it was all his choice, but I said to him, ‘No matter what your last name is, you are going to have to hit the marks,’” Hanks told Graham Norton, per the Daily Mail .

How can you watch A Man Called Otto ?

A Man Called Otto will be in theaters across the country on Christmas Day , just when you might need a little feel-good moment.

A Man Called Otto - What We Know So Far

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The 2022 holiday season seems like another big battle for box office dominance. From DreamWorks' "Puss in Boots: The Last Wish" to Damien Chazelle's "Babylon" to the long-awaited "Avatar: The Way of Water," there's no shortage of anticipated releases for audiences to soak up while getting festive with friends and families.

Among the less discussed releases slated for that time of the year is Sony Pictures' "A Man Called Otto" starring Tom Hanks . The film is based on best-selling Swedish author Fredrik Backman's 2012 novel, "A Man Called Ove," with the name changed to Otto for the film as a way to reflect its American setting. It will be the second film adaptation of the book following the two-time Oscar-nominated Swedish film directed by Hannes Holm and starring Rolf Lassgård released in 2015 (via IMDb ). 

With the New York Times Best Selling novel being called "a fuzzy crowd-pleaser that serves up laughs to accompany a thoughtful reflection on loss and love" by Publishers Weekly  and its 2015 film adaptation receiving similar praise , it seems a perfect story to become a potentially wholesome holiday release. But can this American adaptation capture the charm and acclaim of its previous renditions? There is a flurry of questions running through our minds and with more information released on the upcoming film we finally have some answers. Here's everything we know about "A Man Called Otto." 

What is the plot of A Man Called Otto?

The synopsis of the back of the English version of the novel "A Man Called Ove" reads, "Ove's well-ordered, solitary world gets a shake-up one November morning with the appearance of new neighbors — a chatty young couple and their two boisterous daughters — who announce their arrival by accidentally flattening Ove's mailbox with their U-Haul. What follows is a heartwarming tale of unkempt cats, unlikely friendships, and a community's unexpected reassessment of the one person they thought they had all figured out." The film appears to be following practically the same story, as its description on IMDb reads, "A cranky retired man strikes up an unlikely friendship with his boisterous new neighbors." 

Regardless of how it differs from its Swedish counterpart, much of the American film's team has expressed great passion for the film's story and what it represents. Producer Rita Wilson told Deadline that she has much admiration for the story, believing that its themes of love, hope, and tolerance are what make up so many classic films. Producer Fredrik Wikström Nicastro added, "I strongly believe that 'A Man Called Ove' is a universal story that resonates strongly with an American and international audience. Making this film with one of the world's best and most acclaimed actors gives 'A Man Called Ove' the best possible opportunity to once again touch the hearts of audiences worldwide." 

Who is starring in A Man Called Otto?

Tom Hanks will be portraying the titular Otto, a grumpy man whose life is thrown into disarray following the death of his wife and being pushed into retirement. He attempts suicide but is constantly interrupted by interactions with his neighbors, who he slowly begins to learn about and bond with. Hanks was attached to the project when it was initially announced in 2017 and acquired by Hanks' and producer Gary Goetzman's production company, Playtone (via Deadline ). Hanks, who has had a particularly active year with the biopic "Elvis," Disney's remake of "Pinocchio," and Wes Anderson's "Asteroid City," seems to be a natural choice to play the role. History has shown again and again that the Oscar-winner has more than proven his versatility in playing enduring, heartfelt characters throughout his filmography. 

In January 2022, more of the cast was revealed by Deadline , with Mariana Treviño, Rachel Keller, and Manuel Garcia-Rulfo confirmed to be joining the project. In March, actors Mike Birbiglia and Emmy-nominated Cameron Britton of Netflix's "Mindhunter" were also added to the cast of the film (per  Deadline ). As of now, we have no information on which characters these actors will be portraying. Other cast members listed on the film's IMDb  page include Kelly Lamor Wilson, Spenser Granese, Elle Chapman, Josefine Lindegaard, and Kailey Hyman. 

Wha's the release date of A Man Called Otto?

According to Deadline , "A Man Called Otto" is currently set for release on December 14, 2022. Sony originally intended for the film's release to be on Christmas Day alongside the release of their Whitney Houston biopic, "I Wanna Dance with Somebody" (via Variety ).

The film will be produced by Tom Hanks' wife, Rita Wilson. It will be helmed by director Marc Forster, best known for his diverse filmography of such titles as "Finding Neverland," "Quantum of Solace," "World War Z," and "Christopher Robin" (per IMDb ). "When I first read Fredrik Backman's novel, I fell in love with the notion that friendship has the power to shape a person's life," Forster told Deadline . "I can't wait to create a film with so much humor and heart alongside Tom [Hanks] and Rita [Wilson]." The book was adapted into a screenplay by two-time Oscar-nominee David Magee , who previously collaborated with Forster on "Finding Neverland" and is also known for writing the screenplays for "Life of Pi" and "Mary Poppins Returns."

"A Man Called Otto," while a primarily American production, will be made in part by the Swedish film production company SF Studios. In February 2022, the film's distribution rights were sold to Sony Pictures for $60 million, making it a record European Film Market rights deal. The deal was made largely due to Sony's continued commitment to theatrical releases as opposed to many of its competitors that opted for streaming instead (via Deadline ).