With his wife, Rita Wilson, Tom Hanks watches a Swedish film focusing on community life, empathy, and coexisting difficulties. He quickly determines that the U.S. would benefit from a similar movie and, soon after, produces “A Man Called Otto.”
Everyone annoys Otto. His neighbors, old friends and even the parcel courier – are all out to destroy his narrow-minded set of rules and regulations.
Only emerging to vent his petty grievances and get into unnecessary arguments with those in his immediate surroundings, Otto has largely retreated from the community.
Tom Hanks is “A Man Called Otto,” a comedy getting an international cinematic release at the start of 2023.
In his latest film, the U.S. actor and producer draws on material from Swedish author Fredrik Backman’s bestseller “A Man Called Ove” (2012). Three years later, there was a Swedish film adaptation by Hannes Holm.
"We were watching it together,” Hanks tells Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa), recalling seeing the Swedish adaptation with his wife, fellow actor Rita Wilson. “I was thinking it, and she said it, which is that this is an important movie that should be made in America right now.”
Soon, David Magee ("Life of Pi") was adapting the script, and later German-Swiss director Marc Forster ("Quantum of Solace") was recruited.
The story is about a generic North American neighborhood at the edges of an unnamed city. It’s about neighbors, new arrivals, and our relationships with those around us.
Otto tries to maintain order in the world, sometimes with cynicism, often aggressively, constantly annoyed, and even in the face of kindness and empathy from his fellow human beings.
Then comes bubbly Marisol (Mariana Trevino), who arrives with her family in Otto’s world and soon turns it upside down. Suddenly Otto finds himself babysitting against his will and confronted with a general neighborly good choice. Even a stray cat forces itself into his life.
But this film differs because the plot doesn’t stick with a comic portrayal of a stubborn older man forced back to good old family values by circumstance.
Otto suffers. A lot.
With the death of his beloved wife, joy has all but disappeared from his life, and we learn about this in flashbacks. Otto frequently visits the grave and takes time to recollect and explain what’s happening in his life.
When he needs help, his new neighbor Marisol reminds him that, counter to Otto’s beliefs, nobody can do everything independently.
Hanks himself sees this as a vital message related to Marisol’s attitude. “You have the right to, certainly, that brand of privacy,” Hanks says.
"But if you do not open up your life to the influences and the experiences and even the inspirations you’re going to get from somebody else, your life will be tiny. And I think living a small life is sad."
Many older adults make the mistake of thinking less is better, Hanks says of his character.
"And eventually, you begin to live a minimum sort of life in which your life diminishes.”
With this film, the actor wants to draw a line under the merits of togetherness. "The spirit of community is the difference between happiness and loneliness."
