The next person we meet is living a childish life, after widowhood and lingering sadness. On the face of it, it’s not really clear what hobbies he has and whether he’s even able to do anything for fun, especially now that he’s retired. However, a small change in his life may change his perspective on the world and make him wonder if there is a purpose to his existence.
“A Man Named Otto” tells the story of Otto Anderson in his mid-60s who has just been widowed. The film is based on Frederik Beckman’s bestseller, “A Man Named Oba”, which was adapted into a film at the end of 2015 and won many praises.
Otto Anderson’s personality is not that pleasant, to say the least. He hates talking to people, throws a tantrum when something is out of place, is obnoxiously condescending to most of his neighbors, and by the way, also condescending to anyone else who he doesn’t consider worthy of consideration. Despite all this, he is able to show a little of his kindness, but it emerges only on special occasions.
At the beginning of the film, Otto is seen as someone who is trying to commit suicide, when the exact motives for this have not yet become clear to us. But just before Otto harms himself, he discovers that a young Mexican-American family is moving in across the street and is making a mess on the street due to the move. Otto is unable for a second to deal with all the mess he sees outside the window, and goes out to them in an attempt to restore order to the small neighborhood.
From the moment they meet, we embark on a journey that accompanies Otto in his relationships with his new neighbors, who make him step out of his comfort zone and bring up memories in his mind that reveal more dramatic and exciting details about his life, trying to understand what exactly led him to such a gloomy situation at that point in time.
Tom Hanks was cast in the lead role in an attempt to reproduce the success of the Swedish film, and we note that such a plot is clearly a “one man show”. Hanks was tasked with bringing out a lot of emotional sides from this character, from extreme breaking moments to cases of emotional revelations.
In my opinion, Hollywood knew very well who was the most suitable person to play the main role and they really did not miss. Hanks, an actor with grace, holds the film around him and does not leave a moment where it is impossible to believe what he is going through, even in the most extreme cases. In my opinion, there is something in the interpretation that Hanks brings that is very suitable for him here precisely because of the characters he played in the past.
As mentioned, Otto is a nervous person with OCD, lacking in tact, introverted and rather quiet. These features show us a rather unique person, of a character who doesn’t really know how to communicate properly with those around her and thinks that everything she does is fine. In my mind, some of the features I mentioned here somehow reminded me a bit of Hanks’ character as “Forrest Gump”. Granted, this is a very large and not entirely accurate comparison, but it seemed that Hanks already came to this film completely prepared.
If we put Hanks aside for a moment, we will discover a relatively exciting plot, but with a few scenes that are not believably written. For example, a flashback of the young Hanks sees his intended wife at a train station dropping a book from his bag, and makes an arduous journey through the station only to find her and another gets on an express train to a place he didn’t want to go. Or for example, a scene of his bad date as a young man who for some reason makes his intended wife particularly enthusiastic.
However, it is important to note that the film does present many scenes accompanied by flashbacks that make us a rather exciting complement at that moment to what we see for the older Otto. Due to this, a great contrast is created between sad events in the past and something amusing in the present. More than once I found myself moved by something sad and immediately afterwards laughing with the “ice-breaking” spring of the situation that was created, and was intended to continue and move the film forward.
I admit that until the middle of the film I was sure that it was a relatively lukewarm plot, with slightly unpleasant moments or with some comical landings. However, as time passed, all the pieces of the puzzle connected and caused a great feeling of identification that is difficult to leave us apathetic to, and yes, sometimes even without a dry eye, as happened to parts of the hall (including your faithful servant).
Maybe I’m relatively more sentimental, and maybe it’s also the connection to Hanks’ acting, “A man named Otto” is quite a cute movie for those who like the dramatic genre, or for those who just want to see something comforting. In my opinion, because this film presents so many emotional layers, everything that is presented can be summed up under one word: “humanity”.