A Man Called Otto

“A Man Called Otto” lays down a familiar pattern for its storytelling and action. The movie clicks because Tom Hanks delivers a performance that is always in the moment. You sense there’s a more pleasant past Otto could recapture, if he’s willing.

With cowardly mildness, this white-bread mush misuses its star’s likability. Tom Hanks trying to be grumpy yet endearing has the opposite impact. He’s somehow less endearing than he’s been before.

Touches on the same weighty themes as 'Ove' — isolation, suicide, and mortality among them — but from the start, director Marc Forster...pulls back the drapes to brighten what in the original version was a decidedly murky room.

A surprisingly cranky Tom Hanks can't elevate this cringe-worthy drama.

Tom Hanks is reliably, dependably Tom Hanksy in this feelgood comedy-drama, the newest addition to the “grumpy old guy in need of redemption” genre. Unfortunately, his steady work is almost undone by clunky direction and shoddy, shortcut scripting.