A Man Called Otto

A Man Called Otto is a 2022 American comedy-drama film directed by Marc Forster from a screenplay by David Magee. It is a remake of the 2015 Swedish film A Man Called Ove, which was based on the 2012 novel of the same name by Fredrik Backman. The film stars Tom Hanks and his son Truman in the title role, with Mariana Treviño, Rachel Keller, and Manuel Garcia-Rulfo in supporting roles. The plot follows a bitter old man who reluctantly gets involved in the lives of his neighbors.

A Man Called Otto
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Marc Forster
Screenplay by	David Magee
Based on	A Man Called Ove (novel) by Fredrik Backman A Man Called Ove (film) by Hannes Holm
Produced by	Fredrik Wikström Nicastro Rita Wilson Tom Hanks Gary Goetzman
Starring	Tom Hanks Mariana Treviño Rachel Keller Manuel Garcia-Rulfo Truman Hanks Mike Birbiglia
Cinematography	Matthias Königswieser
Edited by	Matt Chessé
Music by	Thomas Newman
Production companies	Columbia Pictures Stage 6 Films SF Studios Artistic Films Playtone 2DUX² STXfilms Big Indie Pictures
Distributed by	Sony Pictures Releasing
Release date	December 29, 2022 (2022-12-29)
Running time	126 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$50 million[1]
Box office	$113 million[2]

A Man Called Otto began a limited theatrical release on December 29, 2022, before a wide release in the United States on January 13, 2023, by Sony Pictures Releasing. The film received positive reviews from critics and grossed $113 million worldwide against a $50 million production budget.

Plot

Otto Anderson is a 63-year-old widower, living in a rowhouse in suburban Pittsburgh. Six months after losing his wife Sonya, a schoolteacher, Otto has become a cynical, fastidious recluse. Pushed into retirement from his job at a steel plant, he cancels his utilities and plans to kill himself in order to join his late wife.

Preparing to hang himself, Otto is interrupted by the arrival of new neighbors: pregnant Marisol, her husband Tommy, and their daughters Abby and Luna, who try to befriend him. When he attempts suicide, the noose becomes detached from the ceiling. He visits Sonya's grave, recalling their past: as a young man, he was rejected by the army because he has hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. He met Sonya after following her onto a train to return a book she had dropped on the platform. She lent him a 1964 silver quarter which he has kept ever since.

Otto helps his neighbor Anita with her radiators, despite holding a grudge against her husband Reuben, a non-responsive stroke survivor. He attempts suicide again by means of carbon monoxide poisoning in his garage, thinking back to his and Sonya's courtship as he begins to lose consciousness, but he is interrupted by Marisol when Tommy breaks his leg after borrowing Otto's ladder. Otto reluctantly drives Marisol and the children to the hospital, where he assaults a clown for taking his special quarter during a magic trick.

While waiting on a railway platform, planning another suicide attempt, Otto remembers his graduation from engineering school, when he asked Sonya to marry him. As the train approaches, an older man falls onto the tracks and Otto saves him, reluctantly allowing himself be pulled to safety by another passenger at the last second. When a stray cat takes a liking to him, Otto reluctantly adopts it. He confronts a teenager named Malcolm for delivering unwanted advertising circulars, and the boy recognizes Otto as his former teacher's husband, describing how Sonya supported him as a transgender student.

Annoyed by Marisol's failure to learn to drive, Otto gives her lessons. They visit Sonya's favorite bakery, where Otto explains that Anita and Sonya were best friends, but he and Reuben grew apart over rivalries and trivialities such as loyalties to different car manufacturers, culminating in Reuben's "coup", replacing Otto as chair of the neighborhood association. Otto babysits Abby and Luna while Marisol and Tommy spend a night out together, and befriends Malcolm, helping to fix his bicycle.

Otto dodges social media journalist Sharie Kenzie after a video of the incident at the train station goes viral. Unable to come to terms with Sonya's death, Otto lashes out at Marisol and also at an agent for Dye & Merika, a real estate company trying to buy up the neighborhood. He prepares to commit suicide by shotgun, remembering the bus crash on a romantic trip to Niagara Falls that caused a pregnant Sonya to lose her baby and become a paraplegic. This time he is disturbed by Malcolm, who has been kicked out by his father; Otto lets him stay the night.

Otto learns that Dye & Merika are conspiring with the estranged son of Reuben and Anita, using Anita's secret Parkinson's diagnosis to buy their house and put Reuben in their nursing home. He resolves to fight them and asks for Marisol's help, finally opening up about Sonya's lost child and subsequent disability, his frustration at the inaccessibility of the Dye & Merika housing development, and how he was voted out as association chair after a heated confrontation. When Dye & Merika staff arrive to take Reuben, the neighbors band together to stop them, while Kenzie films the incident, exposing their illegal access to Anita and Otto's medical records.

Otto collapses and is taken to hospital, identifying Marisol as his next of kin. She is amused to learn that "his heart is too big", then goes into labor and gives birth to a son, Marco. Otto gives Marisol and Tommy the cradle he built when Sonya was pregnant, gives his car to Malcolm, and grows closer to his neighbors.

Three years later, following a snowfall, Tommy notices Otto has not shoveled his walkway as he normally would. He and Marisol enter his house and find that Otto has died of heart failure. They also find a letter to Marisol bequeathing his home, savings, new truck, and cat. Following his wishes for a funeral, the neighbors gather to remember Otto.

Cast

• Tom Hanks as Otto Anderson
  • Truman Hanks as young Otto
• Mariana Treviño as Marisol
• Rachel Keller as Sonya
• Manuel Garcia-Rulfo as Tommy
• Mike Birbiglia as the Dye & Merika real estate agent
• Cameron Britton as Jimmy
• Mack Bayda as Malcolm
• Juanita Jennings as Anita
• Peter Lawson Jones as Reuben
• Kelly Lamor Wilson as Shari Kenzie

In addition, Christiana Montoya and Alessandra Perez appear as Luna and Abby, respectively. John Higgins appears as a store clerk.^[3]

Production

In September 2017, it was announced that Tom Hanks would star in an English-language adaptation of the 2015 Swedish film, A Man Called Ove, and would also produce alongside Playtone partner Gary Goetzman, wife Rita Wilson, and Fredrik Wikström Nicastro of SF Studios.^[4] Marc Forster was confirmed as the film's director in January 2022, with David Magee writing the screenplay.^[5] On February 10, 2022, it was announced that Sony Pictures pre-bought the rights to the film for around US$60 million at the European Film Market.^[6]

Filming

Filming began in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in February 2022^[1][7] and wrapped up three months later in May.^[8][9]

Soundtrack

Thomas Newman composed the film's score. The soundtrack album was released by Decca Records on December 30, 2022.^[10][11] The album also features the single "Til You're Home" by Rita Wilson and Sebastián Yatra, which was released on December 2, 2022,^[10] and was shortlisted for the Academy Award for Best Original Song.^[12] Chet Hanks's song White Boy Summer appears in a brief scene.^[13]

Release

The film began limited theatrical release in New York City and Los Angeles on December 29, 2022, before a wide release in the United States on January 13, 2023, by Sony Pictures Releasing.^[2][14] It was originally set for a wide release on December 25, 2022,^[15][16] then moved up to December 14, 2022, before moving to its current date.^[17]

Home media

The film was released through video on demand on February 28, 2023. It was released on Blu-ray and DVD on March 14, 2023.^[18][19]

Reception

Box office

A Man Called Otto grossed $64.3 million in the United States and Canada, and $48.8 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $113.1 million,^[2] against a budget of $50 million.^[1]

A Man Called Otto grossed $60,000 at four Los Angeles and New York theaters on its opening three-day weekend.^[20] It expanded to 637 theaters the following weekend, making $4.2 million and finishing in fourth.^[21] In its third weekend the film made $12.7 million after expanding to 3,802 theaters, surpassing its $8 million projections and remaining in fourth.^[22] It then made $8.8 million in its fourth weekend, finishing fifth.^[23]

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 70% of 211 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.1/10. The website's consensus reads: "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."^[24] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 51 out of 100, based on 36 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.^[25] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.^[22]