“Man Called Otto” Is Oscar-bait at Its Worst

Audiences You crave predictability in small doses.

We Want the superhero to save day and the boy and girl to meet in a romcom. So When we see the curmudgeonly antihero “A Man Called Otto” we don’t want him to stay curmudgeonly for long.

Formulas Screenplays can be magical, but they must be true to the story. The classic quote, “I’ll have what she’s having,” From “When Harry Met Sally” Jumps to my mind.

Tom Hanks’ “Otto” There is very little that is exciting or rewarding. It’s a curdled lineup of tropes begging us to like them. The Oscar Winner is open to being naive at times, which is a refreshing change from his usual screen image.

What’s missing is a story that has even a mild relationship with reality.

Hanks’ Otto Anderson He is at the end. Literally.

He’s been nudged out of his decades-long job, pummeled by life’s inequities and widowed after years of blissful marriage.

And he’s taking it out on everyone he meets.

Otto dresses down the local shop clerk for a minor error, mocks anyone who doesn’t follow the precise rules of the road and is so curt with neighbors you wonder why they don’t take a swing at him.

You might. Trust us.

Hanks, he or she of the two Oscars Jimmy StewartHe has a reputation for being a shrewd jumper. It’s the first sign of storytelling trouble, but it’ll soon have company.

SomehowHis neighbors were tolerant of him. Otto. Maybe They need him to fix their radiators, or to take them to the store. They He genuflects to his old-school wisdom, swallowing hard and urinating all over them.

Awwww.

In Otto’s meager defense, he’s contemplating suicide as the story opens. He’s a square peg in a societal round hole, and he’s had enough. That’s until he meets the new neighbors, a Mexican Two adorable girls who you adore, a couple Otto It tells them that it does so for no other reason than the script.

Marisol (Mariana Trevino) speaks in a thick Spanish accent except when she doesn’t and, in a storytelling first, she’s a recent immigrant who happens to be a great cook!

Her The husbandManuel Garcia-RulfoUnder tutelage, he would require a year. Jordan Peterson To rise to the status of beta male. He can’t parallel park a car and calls an Allen Ankle wrench “Alvin” wrench.

You Know, like the chipmunk These People, these are the best laughs.

Other One of the wackiest neighbors is a man who smiles constantly and wants to hang out with everyone. Otto. Wouldn’t you? He It sounds like a party.

The film’s worst moment, and it has some stiff competition, finds Otto Before the conflict turns physical, dress down a hospital-based clown.

Really.

Another The face on the block belongs a Malcolm (Mack Bayda), a local trans youth. NowYou might also expect an old-school soul. Otto Do not be deceived by a neighbor. Otto He hails from a different age, and the modern world confuses him.

That kind of reaction can’t be told, according to Woke Storytelling 101, because Otto is ultimately the film’s hero. So Otto Quickly warms to Malcolm He is treated as a member of the extended family.

RELATED: HOW TOM HANKS PUTS JENNIFER LAWRENCE TO SHAME 

We Slowly, you will learn to live with the hardships Otto Faced over the years in an endless series flashbacks. It’s like “The Notebook Part II,” However, it is even more cloying. Otto’s love story is so idealized you half expect the couple to run towards each other in slow motion, with a Carpenters Ballad playing behind them

There’s an interesting commentary staring at us throughout “Otto.” The The younger generation is unable to navigate a manual car, fix basic things, and make sense out of their chaotic lives.

Otto He nails all of it, and he finds relief in doing so, despite his cranky complaints.

It’s the film’s sole pleasure.

“Otto,” Based on the Swedish Film “A Man Called Ove” Inspired by the bestseller, the final act is so predictable that you could look away from the screen and write down what happens on your popcorn box with near-perfect accuracy.

Director Marc Foster He falls down a rabbit hole full of twee and never comes back. Foster’s resume has some impressive moments (“World War Z,” “Stranger Than Fiction”), but this kind of sticky sentiment proves outside his grasp.

HiT or Miss: “A Man Called Otto” 2022: The last minute sneaker! Oscar It is worth considering, but it has a greater chance of being accepted. Razzie Two.

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