I cried bucketloads of tears at this lovely story of a terrible neighbourhood grump, Otto Anderson, who slowly gets to know the Latino immigrant family who move in across the road. Tom Hanks is utterly perfect as the cold-hearted, nasty and lonely old man who likes to point out everyone else's trivial parking and rubbish infractions and who doesn't have a nice word to say to anyone. Enter bubbly Mexican immigrant Marisol (a radiant Mariana Trevino) who worms her way into his life through food and by being bossy. It's hinted that her own father was the same, so she refuses to be cowed by Otto's emotional games. Gradually we learn why Otto keeps attempting suicide, and it's a horrible tale. Itto's present woes are beautifully combined with flashbacks to Otto's life with his late wife (a young Otto played by Hanks's son). While it's predictable what will happen in the end, there are interesting points made about how you need other people and how you can help others, and how curmudgeons often have past traumas.
Review of A Man Called Otto
