Political preachiness

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Today is Friday, January 13, 2023. Thank you for turning to WORLD Radio to help start your day.

Good morning. I’m Myrna Brown.

NICK EICHER, HOST: And I’m Nick Eicher. Tom Hanks has long been considered one of Hollywood’s nice guys, but in his new movie he gets to unleash his inner grump.

A Man Called Otto goes into wide release today, but arts and culture editor Collin Garbarino warns that the movie feels like a politicized bait and switch.

MUSIC: [“Alvin Wrench” from A Man Called Otto Soundtrack]

COLLIN GARBARINO: Tom Hanks stars as the title character in the film, A Man Called Otto. It’s about—you guessed it—a man named Otto. He’s the typical grouchy old guy on the block, complaining about all the other neighbors, but in this story, Otto’s going to learn to let love come in.

That’s how Columbia Pictures is marketing it anyway. The movie is billed as a heartwarming comedy, but don’t be fooled. We might get some heartwarming and comedic scenes, but fundamentally, A Man Called Otto is a very, very sad film. It’s also very, very flawed.

OTTO: I’m sorry I didn’t get them here earlier. The whole neighborhood is falling apart these days.

The movie begins with Otto shopping in a hardware store, confident that he knows more about the products than the store’s youthful staff. He’s incredulous when they can’t understand he only wants five feet of rope rather than two yards.

But idiots at the hardware store aren’t Otto’s only gripes. He’s only in his mid-sixties, but the company he gave his life to has forced him into retirement. He also thinks his neighborhood is going to pot—no one follows the rules clearly printed on street signs.

OTTO: You cannot use this road without a permit.

UPS DRIVER: Have a nice day sir.

OTTO: You know, the other guys don’t do this—the guys with the white trucks. How come it’s always you brown guys? And I don’t mean that racially!

And to make matters worse, a clueless, and irritatingly friendly, Mexican family moves in across the street.

[knock on door]

MARISOL: Hi! We wanted to properly introduce ourselves because, you know, we’re going to be neighbors, and so…

OTTO: Okay.

MARISOL: Okay.

OTTO: Bye.

[door closes]

Despite Otto’s insistence that he’s surrounded by idiots, that sweet and funny family across the street will pierce Otto’s crusty exterior with love and kindness.

MARISOL: Are you always this unfriendly?

OTTO: I’m not unfriendly.

MARISOL: Okay, you’re not. Nah. You’re not unfriendly. Every word you say is like a warm cuddle.

So far, so good. But this PG-13 movie is a lot heavier than advertised.

In the opening scene, Otto is buying rope because he plans to hang himself. His wife Sonya died six months before, and now that he’s lost his job, he feels he has nothing to live for. The ceiling mount breaks during his attempted suicide just as the new neighbors pull in with their U-Haul.

Otto attempts suicide three more times during the film, and each time he’s interrupted by someone in need. The film attempts to turn these failed attempts at self murder into jokes, but the undercurrent is too tragic.

MARISOL: Can you please give me a ride? I don’t have a license.

OTTO: You don’t have a driver’s license? How old are you?

OTTO: Clutch in, and break. Break! The car is stopped. Don’t hit the car. Break. Break.

MARISOL: I almost hit the car.

OTTO: It’s alright. It’s a hybrid.

As Otto plots his own demise, the film flashes back to his early life with Sonya. Tom Hanks’ son Truman plays a much younger Otto in these scenes. Director Marc Forster deftly juxtaposes Otto’s despair in the present with the past life he still longs for. The brief transitions between the two lives are the film’s most beautiful moments, and they’re filled with unbearable melancholy.

In some ways, Otto is a timely movie, what with the Canadian health care service recommending euthanasia for the vulnerable and elderly. This movie affirms the dignity and value of each human life. Otto wants to die because he feels useless and empty—the world has passed him by and his wife is gone. But he slowly realizes that people still need and love him.

Death is bad because it robs others of the chance to love us.

LUNA: Hello.

OTTO: Hello.

LUNA: What’s your name?

OTTO: Otto.

ABBIE: Otto?

OTTO: O-T-T-O.

ABBIE: I’m Abbie, O-T-T-O.

The growing relationship between Otto and the young family across the street makes up the heart of the movie, but A Man Called Otto loses its way about halfway through, taking a detour into political preachiness.

First, Otto befriends a transgender teenage neighbor. This movie is an adaptation of a Swedish novel and movie, and in the Swedish version, the neighbor is merely gay. I guess in America today being simply gay isn’t trendy or cool enough. Every interaction between Otto and this teen rings hollow.

We’ve spent an hour watching Otto call everyone he meets an idiot because they don’t understand how the world works. But he immediately accepts this teenager’s gender confusion without protest. Their conversations don’t make sense in the context and are composed exclusively of LGBT clichés.

Then, with the help of his new friends, Otto wages war against the evil capitalists who want to take over his neighborhood. Both the problem and the solution defy belief.

The movie concludes too predictably, trying to elicit a few more tears before the credits roll, but by the end I was merely crying because of a wasted opportunity—another promising story ruined by cheap progressive platitudes.

I’m Collin Garbarino.

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