A Man Called Otto (2022) Review

Otto Anderson is an old man who has given up on living since the death of his wife and wants to end it all, but those around him aren’t quite willing to let him go just yet.

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Otto really has not had the best of times after the death of his wife he leaves the job he had for many years and quite frankly all of his co-workers are horrible to him. He patrols the neighbour he lives in attempting to keep it safe and tidy. His attitude of wanting everything perfect doesn’t exactly go down very well with everyone though, he has become extremely grumpy and just sick of all of the idiots around him. He is ready to put himself out of the misery he is in and decides that he is going to commit suicide.

The thing is though when a young family move into the house opposite his they actually need his help a lot, with Marisol recognising that Otto needs support probably more than they do! The thing with Otto is that he truly believes that he can do a lot of things a lot better than those around him so despite his complaining, name calling and grumpy nature he actually loves being right and doing everything for others.

Attempting to kill himself is more difficult than he actually thinks though when with each different attempt something happens that stops him from being able to complete the task. Can we think that it is a sign from his wife, of course we can! But can he realise that she would want him to keep living and have some good times with good people.

I seriously was not expecting to find myself close to tears many times throughout this film, it really does pack a very emotional punch. It deals with the suicide attempts in the best possible manner and you really cannot help but feel for Otto. Events we see in flashback form show us the viewer just how and why he is struggling and the different life events that have made him so damn angry as well. In all honesty with a lot of it we cannot really blame him. The other emotional factor it pushes is if you have ever felt like him and close to the edge as well, because let’s face it that is really important to show on film as you never know how much it could help someone.

Remembering that you will never actually be alone is quite the powerful message, even more so when a person seems to have well and truly given up any hope with anything. Marisol is such a joy and with her husband, two daughters and another baby on the way it is the perfect distraction for Otto. There was a scene before he opened up to her when I think she eventually realised just how sad, lonely and low Otto truly was and that was heartbreaking.

Tom Hanks can now add grumpy old man to his very extensive list of acting roles and something else that he has done to effortlessly. He is a true joy of an actor as he really becomes each and every character that he portrays. Otto was no different and he really gave him such an edge, I mean I guess we already cared a little bit because Hanks was playing the character but he needed to put his heart and soul into it, we needed to care about someone who had truly given up and he nailed that. The younger version of the character was taken on by his son Truman Hanks and that felt so utterly perfect for the flashback moments. Mariana Trevino is utterly outstanding though breathing so much life into the film with such ease, she brought a spark and balance that worked so well with Hanks and I just wanted more scenes of them together. It just shows how important friendship is and that everything doesn’t have to be linked to romance.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention the cat! A true scene stealer? Ok, maybe not but it certainly added to different scenes with a sense of purpose.