A Man Called Otto (2022)

[Wildcard]

Not 100% sold on this. The original Swedish version is one of my favorite movies is the last few years (and currently on Amazon Prime) and I'm afraid they will get over-sentimentalize the film.

[Browncoat]

I really liked the original, too.  I'll probably see this version out of curiosity, but I fail to see how they could improve on "A Man Called Ove".

[Ailianna]

Tom Hanks was on the Graham Norton Show, and he said he loved the original too and that's part of the reason he wanted the character's name to be changed. He said they also consulted with the original filmmakers who apparently liked what he wanted to do with the story. The only clip I saw was pretty good. The female neighbor made me like her in the quick clip a lot.

[AngieBee1]

It's a nice film. It's not too cloying and the emotional beats don't feel overly manipulative. Great supporting cast.

[tres bien]

The book was excellent. Don't know if I'll see this version of the movie 

[athousandclowns]

It wasn’t planned but  saw this movie today after reading some reviews while sitting in the parking lot. I enjoyed it. The actress playing the neighbour was fantastic.  I was pleased to see a father mother and their  preteen and teenagers  with them. Poor Tom had to frown ( wrinkle forehead  ) through out the movie. I recommend it. 
 

[Rickster]

Interestingly, The NY Times says this movie beat opening weekend box office expectations by 50%, especially strong in Middle America, not so much on the coasts.

[Haleth]

Big fan of the book and Swedish movie so I was hesitant about seeing this. It was delightful. Heartwarming and heartbreaking, charming and funny. The actress playing Marisol was wonderful. Hope to see more of her. 

[Browncoat]

I saw this today, and I agree with @Haleth.  It was delightful, and I thought pretty faithful to the original material.  Updated a bit, of course, but nicely done.  

[methodwriter85]

I remember being impressed at how well the Young Tom Hanks did, and wondering if I'd seen him before, and then "Truman Hanks" flashed across the screen credits. LOL

Pretty well done. I really liked the neighborhood lady. I thought it was interesting how they both had a loss they were dealing with and they gravitated towards each other because of that.

 

[Spartan Girl]

Dang, I’m gonna have to read the book now because this was so good.

My mom was upset that Otto still died at the end, even after I pointed out that it was a natural death from his heart condition, and he got to live quite a long time, long enough to enjoy some years with his new found family and that was what was important.

Loved the cat. Wish it had gotten a real name.

Truman doesn’t look as much like Tom as Colin does, but cool they convinced him to play his younger dad.

[methodwriter85]

2 hours ago, Spartan Girl said:

Truman doesn’t look as much like Tom as Colin does, but cool they convinced him to play his younger dad.

Agreed but at this point Colin Hanks cannot pull off being 19 years old. I thought it felt close enough. Although Truman actually reminds me a lot of Alan Thicke's youngest son. I did wonder if they were going to switch to Colin playing Otto for the scenes that were set in the 90's but they chose to de-age Tom instead.

Edited March 19, 2023 by methodwriter85

[StatisticalOutlier]

13 hours ago, Spartan Girl said:

Dang, I’m gonna have to read the book now because this was so good.

I saw the Swedish version of the movie and loved it.  Then when this one was coming out, I found the book in a Little Free Library and thought it was a sign to read the book and see the American version, which I'd been on the fence about because I liked the original so much.

I made it only maybe 20 pages into the book.  The author has this thing where he uses "as if" constantly.  I don't know if this is actually how the book opens, but the Barnes & Noble starts its description with, "Meet Ove. He’s a curmudgeon—the kind of man who points at people he dislikes as if they were burglars caught outside his bedroom window," and it sure sounds familiar.

But then there's another "as if."  And then another.  After about three or four, I went back and circled them, and kept circling every time I encountered another.  At one point, a few pages went by without one, and I thought I could continue the book, but then BAM a bunch in quick succession.  I finally gave up. 

And I ultimately didn't see the American version of the movie, either.

[stonehaven]

Saw this on a United flight. It made me laugh and bawl at the same time. My mother passed away last year and the flight I was on was taking me to her memorial service. We put it off for a time because of Hurricane Season.

The grief of depression had set in a few months ago and I saw a lot of myself in Otto....Then this line hit me like a ton of bricks.....and it made me cry and it made me smile...

"She died six months ago. She wants me to keep living".......

I love Tom Hanks but this is the first FILM of his that I have utterly adored in a long time. They say music finds you when you need it most. I truly believe that and this film found me when I needed it most. 

It made the memorial a bit more joyful for me.....

[stonehaven]

Just saw that Man Called Otto will start streaming in Netflix in the US and India starting May 6th. It will stay there for 18 months and then move to Hulu.

Cannot wait!!!!!!!

[Bastet]

I wanted to see this based on the trailer (I know nothing about the book or original film), so checked it out now that it's on Netflix.  I didn't like it at first - I have a very low tolerance for old white men being mean to everyone and complaining about how everything has changed, so when all I'd seen him do was chew out retail workers, shoo away a cat, and talk about "dying America", I thought this was not going to be the film for me - but I'm glad I stuck with it because Otto really isn't one of those guys. 

I wish the cat was in it more, but love the actor playing Marisol.  She did a fantastic job and worked well with Tom Hanks.  I cracked up during the credits, because in every flashback to young Otto I thought they should have found an actor more reminiscent of a young Tom Hanks and then it turned out that's his son!  (I've only ever seen the batshit crazy one, being batshit crazy.)  Heh.

I like the pace at which we got the details of his history, and the simultaneous poignancy and dark humor in his various failed attempts.  I love Reuben being aware and trying to stop him from leaving with the house, and that little smile later.  And I love how Otto winds up finding a way to use the "social media journalist" for good.

What a nice story of family, in all its forms.

[SoMuchTV]

2 minutes ago, Bastet said:

I cracked up during the credits, because in every flashback to young Otto I thought they should have found an actor more reminiscent of a young Tom Hanks and then it turned out that's his son!  (I've only ever seen the batshit crazy one, being batshit crazy.)  Heh.

I don't know details about his whole family, but he does have another son besides those two (Colin) who I think looks a lot more like him.  Every time he pops up in something, I think "Baby Hanks!" But he would have been too old for the role here.

Also if you liked this and you have Prime, you might also want to check out the original version - "A Man Called Ove".  Subtitles, though, if that's an issue.

[Bastet]

1 hour ago, SoMuchTV said:

Also if you liked this and you have Prime, you might also want to check out the original version - "A Man Called Ove".  Subtitles, though, if that's an issue.

I plan to (I hate dubbed foreign films, but have no problem with subtitles [so long as they're large enough I can read them on my bedroom TV, which is where I watch streaming]).

I forgot to note one of my favorite scenes -- when Marisol cannot stop laughing when the cardiologist tells her Otto's heart is too big.

And I love the actor's line delivery when Jimmy asks "Are you sure you want to do that?" in response to hearing a social media journalist is looking for Otto.  It's such a simple line, but he says it perfectly.

[Anela]

I haven't seen this yet, but I loved the book. I actually started reading it in early 2016, but stopped, as soon as I saw that he'd lost his wife (I was worried about mum). I finished it right around the time that she died. :( Now I worry about my dad, so I'm putting it off for a while. 

[Bastet]

I watched the original last night, and this is a surprisingly faithful adaptation.  The changes are mostly minimal; there are several little things I like better about the original and several little things I like better about this one. 

More broadly, I think the original does a better job with Ove's backstory (his dad's death as the reason he accepts a rescue from his train track suicide particularly stood out) and better develops Sonja, but this one does a better job of selling Otto's transformation despite not being as effective at establishing how he came to be in the first place.  And I like that he gets more happy time in the end.

If asked to pick the better film, I'd say the original.  But it's close, and there are no fundamental changes that annoy me about this adaptation; it stands on its own well.

[Rickster]

Finally saw this on Netflix. I guess I liked it, but versus my expectations, I was surprised how determined Hanks was to kill himself. I had assumed there was only going to be the first attempt. I would have also preferred he not die at the end, or else die at an elderly age, not just 3 years later. That left us a little glum at the ending.