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, about a bitter old man reluctantly getting involved in the lives of his neighbors. It stars Tom Hanks in the title role, with Mariana Treviño, Rachel Keller, and Manuel Garcia-Rulfo in supporting roles. It is a remake of the 2015 Swedish film A Man Called Ove, which was based on the 2012 novel by Fredrik Backman.
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. The film received generally favorable reviews from critics and grossed $113.1 million worldwide on a $50 million budget.
Plot
Otto Anderson is a 63-year-old widower, living in a rowhouse in suburban Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Six months after losing his wife Sonya, a schoolteacher, Otto has become a cynical, fastidious curmudgeon. Pushed into retirement from his job at a steel plant, he cancels his utilities and plans to kill himself, 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 collapses from the ceiling, so he visits Sonya's grave, and has flashbacks to their past: As a young man, he was rejected from the army due to his hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, and met Sonya on a train, where she lent him a 1964 silver quarter 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. Otto attempts suicide again via carbon monoxide poisoning in his garage, thinking back on his and Sonya's courtship, but 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 quarter during a magic trick.
While waiting on a train platform for another suicide attempt, Otto remembers his graduation from engineering school, when he asked Sonya to marry him. He saves an older man who falls onto the tracks, and lets himself be pulled to safety at the last second. When his neighbor Jimmy rescues a stray cat but turns out to be allergic, 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, recounting that Sonya supported him as a transgender student.
Annoyed by Marisol's inability 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 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 fix his bicycle.
Otto dodges social media journalist Sharie Kenzie after video of the incident at the train station goes viral. Unwilling to come to terms with Sonya's death, Otto lashes out at Marisol and an agent for Dye & Merika, a real estate company trying to take over 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. Interrupted again, by Malcolm this time, Otto lets him spend the night after being kicked out by his father.
Otto learns that Dye & Merika are conspiring with Reuben and Anita's estranged son, leveraging 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 explaining Sonya's stillbirth and 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 with the company. When Dye & Merika staff arrive to take Reuben, the neighbors band together to stop them, with Kenzie exposing their illegal access of Anita and Otto's medical records.
Otto collapses and is taken to the hospital, identifying Marisol as his next of kin. She is amused to learn "his heart is too big", then goes into labor and gives birth to a son, Marco. Otto gives Marisol and Tommy the crib he built when Sonya was pregnant, gifts his car to Malcolm, and grows closer with his neighbors. Three years later, Tommy notices Otto has not shoveled his walkway, and he and Marisol find that he has died of heart failure, and left 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
In addition, Christiana Montoya and Alessandra Perez appear as Luna and Abbie, respectively.
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. Marc Forster was confirmed as the film's director in January 2022, with David Magee writing the screenplay. On February 10, 2022, it was announced that Sony Pictures pre-bought the rights to the film for around at the European Film Market.
Filming
Filming began in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in February 2022. It wrapped in May 2022.
Soundtrack
Thomas Newman composed the film's score. The soundtrack album was released by Decca Records on December 30, 2022. The album also features the single "Til You're Home" by Rita Wilson and Sebastián Yatra, which was released on December 2, 2022, and was shortlisted for the Academy Award for Best Original Song.
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. It was originally set for a wide release on December 25, 2022, then moved up to December 14, 2022, before moving to its current date.
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. The film was released on Netflix in the United States on May 6, 2023. Disney signed a "pay two window" deal with Sony in April 2021 which also included A Man Called Otto.
Reception
Box office
A Man Called Otto grossed $64.3million in the United States and Canada, and $48.8million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $113.1million, against a budget of $50million.
A Man Called Otto grossed $60,000 at four Los Angeles and New York theaters on its opening three-day weekend. It expanded to 637 theaters the following weekend, making $4.2 million and finishing in fourth. 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.
Critical response
References
External links
Official screenplay
Master Class - A Man Called Otto w/ Tom Hanks, Rolf Lassgård, Rita Wilson, 2023 SF Studios video
2022 comedy-drama films
2022 films
2020s American films
2020s English-language films
American comedy-drama films
American remakes of Swedish films
Columbia Pictures films
Films about suicide
Films about widowhood
Films based on adaptations
Films based on Swedish novels
Films directed by Marc Forster
Films produced by Gary Goetzman
Films produced by Tom Hanks
Films scored by Thomas Newman
Films set in New York (state)
Films set in Pittsburgh
Films shot in New York (state)
Films shot in Pittsburgh
Playtone films
Stage 6 Films films
STX Entertainment films
Films with screenplays by David Magee