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A MAN CALLED OTTO MOVIE REVIEW
Tom Hanks is grumpy and sad Tom Hanks who we all root to turn into happy Tom Hanks in Tom Hanks: The Movie. A Man Called Otto is an adaptation of a popular 2012 novel and later a Swedish film called “A Man Called Ove”. This new American version by accomplished director Marc Forster puts it through the ‘lighten it up’ machine and it’s a shame that we don’t get to see the smarter and more nuanced version of this story. All that being said, nobody can do this sort of thing like Tom Hanks and he’s in his final form here. Otto is a curmudgeonly and grumpy old coot that everyone in his neighborhood puts up with largely with a look of pity in their eyes. That’s because he didn’t always used to be this way. His wife passed away a year ago and since then, all he’s wanted to do is to join her in death. He has pulled away from his job, his former friends/neighbors, and even turned off his utilities in preparation for taking his own life. Which, as it turns out, isn’t as easy as he initially thought. Also complicating things are two new bright-eyed latino neighbors who Otto ends up helping with their various and consistently mounting difficulties because dammit, he just can’t bear to see people doing stuff wrong. Eventually you’re gonna cry; we sure did. Even if all of the proceedings are more than just a bit sappy and predictable as hell, it’s still well-crafted treacle with Hanks playing it to the most lovable hilt. Chris, Marco, and Spider-Mike take a look and admit they are all big softies.
DIRECTED BY: Marc Forster
STARRING: Tom Hanks, Truman Hanks, Mariana Treviño, Rachel Keller, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Cameron Britton, Mike Birbiglia, Mack Bayda, Juanita Jennings, Peter Lawson Jones, Max Pavel, Kailey Hyman, Christina Montoya, Alessandra Perez, Greg Allan Martin, Julian Manjerico, Jon Donahue, Josephine Valentina Clark, Josefine Lindegaard, Kelly Lamor Wilson
YOUR REVIEWERS
Christopher Lawrence Cox (Founder, Da Boss)
Born in the wilds of northern Virginia, Chris managed to put all of his survival skills to use and barely escaped with his life to Austin Texas in 1992 where ever since he’s dabbled in everything from plumber’s assistant to sandwich maker, from band to bar management. An opportunity to see theatrical release films for free by becoming a critic on a local public access show called “The Reel Deal” turned into a full-time job when Chris and his friends decided to take it to the internet. They built the site Spill.com, adding multiple podcasts and animated features, to no small amount of success. During this time, a fortuitous friendship sprung up between Chris and young Brian Salisbury, who was also a local film critic, and they merged their forces of will, and their laundry list of ideas for shows, to eventually build this community of critics. While Brian eventually followed his heart to a new family, Chris continues on with a cast of colorful folks from all over the country (and a few others). You can also check out Chris in his videocast, along with Martin Thomas and Danni Danger, that One Of Us does with our friends at Bell of Lost Souls: Crossover Event. He also regularly guests on the video game website Rage Select. Follow Chris on Twitter and Facebook and check out his Amazon Wish List.
Marco Noyola (Digital Noise, Highly Suspect Reviews, Screener Squad, Audio Editor)
By day, Marco is a mild-mannered office worker, but by night he is a mild-mannered movie watcher. He does other mild-mannered stuff too.
“You don’t need to follow me. You don’t need to follow anybody!”
Michael Riojas (Screener Squad, Highly Suspect Reviews)
The man with the ever-changing nicknames. Born in Austin, Riojas was rocketed to Del Rio, Texas, a literal small ville. In his youth, he was bitten by a radioactive… okay, look. Mike is not very good at this whole “talking about himself” thing. But he has been so obsessed with comics, video games, and anime since childhood- that if one has to choose between listening to Joe Quesada or Mike over any obscure Spider-Man trivia, they go to him (or, at least Martin Thomas once said so). He is also a big fan of “Ghostbusters” (he even owns his own jumpsuit and two, that’s right, TWO proton packs!), collects toys and video games, and will defend “Superman IV: The Quest for Peace” if provoked. He lives in Austin with his beloved Dachshund-Maltese and trusted sidekick, Dean. He can also be heard on RageSelect. He can be found on Twitter and Instagram.
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