A Man Called Otto (2022) * * * 1/2

Directed by:  Marc Forster

Starring:  Tom Hanks, Mariana Trevino, Cameron Britton, Peter Lawson Jones, Juanita Jennings, Rachel Keller, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Truman Hanks

Otto Anderson (Hanks) is a suicidal curmudgeon upset over the loss of his beloved wife six months earlier.  He has joys in life, mostly involving performing his daily "rounds" as the appointed caretaker of his residential community.   He's that guy who ensures recyclables are placed in the recycling bin and yells at UPS trucks for clogging up the small streets in front of homes.   The little things annoy him, but if he didn't have these, then he'd have no reason to live at all.   

As is custom in movies with a grumpy old man as its protagonist, Otto will soon have forces thrust upon him which will reveal his kinder side.   They come in the form of his new neighbors Marisol (Trevino) and Tommy (Garcia-Rulfo from The Lincoln Lawyer Netflix series) who are sweet and only want to befriend Otto.   We witness flashbacks to Otto's courtship of Sonya, who is a catalyst in bringing Otto out of his shell and supporting him in his dreams.   We understand why this loss is a huge one for Otto and why it devastated him.    It makes sense that Otto's suicide attempts fail, because then who would be around to grouse about trash being thrown in with the recyclables?

A Man Called Otto involves us so thoroughly because of its tone.  Every day in the gray, wintry Pittsburgh where Otto resides is the Land the Sun Forgot.  It's perpetually cloudy, while Otto's kindly neighbors are always sunny, even when things are rough.   Otto used to be close to other neighbors as well, but circumstances change mostly due to Otto holding on to principles which needed to be abandoned.   Trevino is a revelation.   Her sweetness and kindness slice through Otto's misery like a hot knife through butter and awakens his own sense of responsibility to his friends.  

Hanks resists the urge to overplay Otto as so irredeemable and incorrigible that any inevitable change of heart rings false.   He's not a happy guy, but we see a nudge in the right direction will make him less miserable.   When the change occurs, Otto isn't overly Scrooge on Christmas morning either.   Hanks maintains a modulated performance which nonetheless invites our sympathy, even if it's the last thing a man called Otto would ask for.    Without Hanks and a Trevino to push back at him, A Man Called Otto would likely not be nearly as successful.   Instead, we find ourselves caring so much more than we had ever anticipated.