A Man Called Otto review – Tom Hanks goes grumpy in remake of quirky Swedish yarn

  • 📰 GuardianAus
  • ⏱ Reading Time:
  • 58 sec. here
  • 2 min. at publisher
  • 📊 Quality Score:
  • News: 27%
  • Publisher: 98%

Australia Headlines News

Australia Latest News,Australia Headlines

Neither the comedy nor the inherently lovable Hanks are dark enough to bring this remake of an odd redemption story to life

, based on the bestselling novel by Fredrik Backman. It was about a grumpy old widower who snaps at everyone on his street – officiously enforcing the Neighbourhood-Watch-type rules about parking and recycling – and keeps on trying to take his own life. These attempts are continually thwarted when he spots some local outside his house breaking some bylaw and Ove can’t resist rushing out to remonstrate.

Hanks’s performance amplifies and colourises the original curmudgeon, and his star-quality soups up the drama and makes a clearer sense of the backstory, yet the very fact of it being Hanks means that we never for a moment believe that he really is going to be that nasty for long. Soon, the lovable Hanks will surely reappear, and it duly does as the sad story of his late wife emerges in sucrose flashback – although she is always a bland cipher, not a convincing person.

But just as with the original, the real problems come with those wacky unsuccessful attempts to kill himself; they represent the same jarring and baffling tonal misjudgment. Newspapers are very restricted about what they can describe on this subject; not so the cinema, which is afforded artistic freedom.

Otherwise, the movie follows the form of the original pretty faithfully, although the gay teenage boy that Ove helps in the first film is now trans. Hanks carries the film with his personality and his easy address to the camera, but this oddity of a film never quite comes to life.In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123, or email

 

Thank you for your comment. Your comment will be published after being reviewed.
Please try again later.

A Man Called Ove was ‘frankly peculiar’. Really?

We have summarized this news so that you can read it quickly. If you are interested in the news, you can read the full text here. Read more:

 /  🏆 1. in AU

Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines

Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.

Obstinacy of the Irish and heartwarming Tom Hanks – two films to catchThe Banshees of Inisherin is an allegory that skewers the Irish. ‘A Man Called Otto’ has a good message for a new year.
Source: FinancialReview - 🏆 2. / 90 Read more »

Man drowns at Gold Coast beachA man in his 40s has died after drowning at a popular Gold Coast beach overnight. Emergency services were called to Surfers Paradise Boulevard at about 7pm following reports a man and a boy had come into trouble in the water. Lifeguards pulled the man from the surf, who died at the scene. Yep ‘drowning’ is often fatal
Source: SkyNewsAust - 🏆 7. / 78 Read more »

‘Do you have no shame?’: Tulsi Gabbard grills congressman-elect George SantosThe former presidential candidate called resume-inflating Santos’s claims ‘blatant lies’ in Fox News interview 'Lying is unacceptable' say Trump supporters. He has no shame. The GOP have promoted yet another sociopath. Love watching two crazy people fight
Source: GuardianAus - 🏆 1. / 98 Read more »

Police appeal after young man is shot dead inside NSW homeThe man, believed to be 25 years old, was unable to be saved by paramedics and died at the scene. Shortly before 11 pm, emergency services responded to reports of a man being shot at a home on Traders Way, Heddon Greta, approximately 20km east of Cessnock. Emergency services treated the man, but he died at the scene. HeddonGreta 7NEWS
Source: 7NewsSydney - 🏆 16. / 63 Read more »

Teen girl facing murder charges after SA man dies a day after alleged stabbingA teenage girl is now facing murder charges, as a man who was found with stab wounds in Adelaide's northern suburbs earlier this week dies in hospital. Meanwhile, two teenagers have died following a fatal crash in the state's Mid North, last night. was this young person taught good morals and social skills in a loving family home? the loving traditional family unit fixes this
Source: abcnews - 🏆 5. / 83 Read more »

Australian man killed ‘defending the freedom of the Ukrainian people’Sage O’Donnell’s mother said her son had “died in action” and said he “chose to live his life true to his beliefs”.
Source: smh - 🏆 6. / 80 Read more »