A Man Called Otto

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⭐ 8.0/10

(Originally written by Joseph)

This is a truly cheesy movie about a grumpy Tom Hanks who, after being won over by his neighbors, has his heart grow 3 sizes in time to save Christmas. I'd say spoiler alert, but you already know that's what's going to happen after 5 minutes, and also that's actually the plot for How the Grinch Stole Christmas.

The thing about me though is that sometimes I love cheesy movies. We Bought a Zoo is one of my favorites movies ever, and this movie is almost like that one. A guy loses his wife and thinks he has nothing to live for, only to discover there is beauty in life because someone won't give up on him. Honestly, this formula works on me every time. The Green Gables series has about ten of these arcs per book and they always hit. If only I could be more like Marisol cuz in reality I'm just a fricken Otto!

I thought this movie was pretty funny. Otto being an asshole is exactly how those kinds of people act. It's actually a pretty great Hanks performance considering the lines he's working with. I also really loved Marisol and also the real hero Jimmy who was a light from the start!

The flashbacks certainly weren't great. The acting, besides Hanks, was pretty suspect. They actually got Hanks's son to do the flashback roles which didn't really work cuz his son looks nothing like him. Also - and this is the biggest negative - Tom Hanks tries to kill himself 4 times?! This is actually very weird and out of place in a movie like this. This is a family movie, but I could see these scenes being deeply triggering for people. I was sure squirming during them, if only I could get over my disbelief that they made it into post.

So overall this movie is maybe not *good* but it's very heartwarming if you are able to embrace the cheesiness. I was for this movie for whatever reason, but just know going in that this thing is liquid sugar.

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