Tom Hanks is one of a handful of true American sweethearts. That’s a prestigious honor, bestowed upon him, Anne Hathaway, and that kid from TikTok who really loves corn. And it’s not to be taken lightly. We rely on these figures to make us smile, laugh, and dazzle us with their performances—even when their films are bad. Unfortunately, Hanks is on the verge of being stripped of his title after trying our patience one too many times.
After a string of fake films concocted in a lab for Oscar attention (Bridge of Spies and Greyhound do not actually exist and you cannot convince me that they do), Hanks rang in 2022 with a triple threat of wacky performances. I wish I meant that in a nice way, but unfortunately, I can’t say anything nice about the fat-suited, cartoonish Colonel Parker in Baz Luhrmann’s latest gay fever dream, Elvis. Nor can I put much stock in Hanks’ Gepetto, from Disney’s live-action Pinocchio, where Hanks essentially played the same character, only sans fat suit and with a high-school-theater-grade grandpa wig.
But even when he misses, Hanks is usually enjoyable to watch. He delivers consistently reliable work that grounds his films; we know that guy, and we like that guy! But in A Man Called Otto, Hanks drops a piece of flaming dog shit on America’s doorstep with his least likable character yet.
Adapted from the 2015 Swedish novel-turned-film A Man Called Ove (try to hold your groans), A Man Called Otto begs you to dislike its titular grump. In the new film, which is now in theaters, Otto Anderson is a retired widower who manages his apartment complex like the Navy.
He scolds FedEx drivers for parking for 10 seconds on a through-street to deliver a package and chastises hardware store workers for trying to help him cut a piece of rope. Otto is curmudgeonly to the point of parody, and the film assumes that you’ll enjoy watching Hanks realize he’s getting a robocall and scream into his phone, “Oh no, robot robot robot!” As if you didn’t get enough of that visiting relatives over the holidays.
(Warning: Some spoilers ahead for A Man Called Otto, as well as discussion of suicide.)
With some tinkering, A Man Called Otto could have at least turned itself into the heartwarming but forgettable dramedy it’s intended to be. But with Hanks hammering his cranky character into the audience at every conceivable second, it’s a wonder anyone else on-screen bothers to look at him, let alone try to strike up a conversation.
What’s more, this is a much darker film than anyone could’ve expected. But by the time viewers are clued into that, they’ve become so exhausted by Hanks that it’s impossible to buy into the film’s latent emotion. A Man Called Otto has done the unthinkable, turning everyone’s favorite actor into an irredeemably insufferable prick.
If you’ve seen even a flash of the marketing for A Man Called Otto, you might be fooled into thinking it’s a charming film about a crabby old man, perfect for hauling your parents to a weekday matinee. The film’s trailers and its posters—literally complete with the tagline, “Fall in love with the grumpiest man in America”—suggest as much. So you’ll be forgiven for being taken aback when Otto starts fashioning the rope he haggled for at the hardware store into a noose.
Otto isn’t just grumpy, he’s clinically depressed. Having lost his beloved wife, Sonya, six months earlier to cancer, Otto has been unable to live with the pain of her absence. As a widower, Otto can only see all of the bad in the world around him. That is, until a new neighbor, Marisol (a sublime Mariana Traviño), moves in across the way with her family.
Marisol is abrasive and overly optimistic, a ball of energy and vitality despite being pregnant with her third child and dealing with her dimwitted but lovable husband, Tommy (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo). In layman's terms: Marisol is Otto’s direct foil.
As Marisol attempts to break through Otto’s hardened exterior, she inadvertently thwarts his suicide attempts. Yes, multiple attempts—there are a whopping four total. Otto’s effort to hang himself goes awry after he eats Marisol’s chicken mole, a neighborly thank-you gift for helping them move in. The film never directly says it, but it seems that the extra weight from a delicious lunch sent Otto tumbling back to the ground.
With each failed endeavor, Otto becomes more frustrated with himself and Marisol. It doesn’t help that he’s got real estate developers who want to demolish his apartment complex breathing down his neck, either. But Otto’s surliness belies his heart, and he agrees to keep helping Marisol with tasks around the house and in town, while she works on trying to get at what has made him such a resigned pessimist.
If only the film didn’t have as little faith in the world as Otto does. A Man Called Otto often feels mean-spirited and jaded, the film version of shaking your fist to the heavens. In one scene, Otto is planning on jumping in front of a train, only to save another man’s life after he has a seizure and falls onto the tracks. Immediately, Gen Z actors are shown pulling out their phones to record TikToks about the event instead of calling 911, something that just simply would not happen in any reality.
The film’s writing is woefully transparent, filled with wearied asides designed to make equally fatigued, older viewers giggle. Otto’s script has no faith in the youth, and opts for tired quips about social media over genuinely biting commentary.
It might help if Hanks wasn’t so one-note throughout the film. For such a talented actor, it’s amazing how he’s spent the last few years of his career reducing himself to roles that are more like murky outlines of people than real humans. Otto is no different, by the time this suicidal old man learns how to love again, it’s far too late. By then, Otto has become such a frustrating, cantankerous caricature that there is no emotional payoff left to be gained by the last 20 minutes of the film when it actually gets a real plot.
A Man Called Otto tries over and over again to hammer down its already plain point. We should look inward past people’s outward-facing defenses, searching for a glimmer of light to connect with them. But the movie is so focused on making Otto completely intolerable for laughs that it forgets to make him effectively sympathetic at all. Everything about the film feels like a new dictionary definition for the word “clunky.” It’s another low for Hanks, and a Gen-X-pandering rubber tire painted to look like an angel food cake for the rest of us. Where’s a serving of life-changing chicken mole when you need it?
If you or a loved one are struggling with suicidal thoughts, please reach out to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255), or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741741. You can also text or dial 988.
