A Man Called Otto Parent Guide

With the death of his wife, all the light has gone out of Otto Anderson’s (Tom Hanks) world. Sonya filled his life with love and purpose, and Otto sees no reason to keep on living without her. Methodically, he sets about planning to end his life as soon as possible.

Otto might be done with life, but life is not done with Otto. An exuberant Hispanic family moves in across the street and wife and mother Marisol (Mariana Trevino) won’t let Otto reject their offered friendship. A neighborhood frenemy needs Otto’s help fighting back against devious property developers. A transgender former student of Sonya’s needs a place to sleep and a stray cat needs a new home. Every time Otto tries to kill himself, life gets in the way. Maybe, just maybe, this grieving widower will learn to live again…

The most important comment I have to make on this show is that “Tom Hanks is back”. After his disappointing role in Elvis and the very underwhelming Greyhound it’s wonderful to find a movie so perfectly suited to the beloved actor’s talents. This film is filled with heartfelt emotion, all of it matter-of-factly portrayed by Hanks. Otto’s grief, emptiness, rigidity, and despair all come to believable life here. In this role, he’s ably matched by Mariana Trevino whose Marisol brings a riot of color, warmth, and almost frenetic activity into his grey existence. Ms. Trevino has such genuine warmth that it manages to jump past the screen and into the theater. No wonder she’s able to soften an old man’s heart….

There’s no denying the darkness at the root of the story – Otto’s determination to kill himself. His various attempts are shown on screen and you will want to keep that in mind if you’re planning to watch this PG-13 production with your teens. Thankfully, the rest of the movie is filled with strong, positive themes about friendship, kindness, helpfulness, neighborliness, and reconciling past hurts. It provides a powerful reminder that the best way to cope with your own challenges is often to look around and help others who struggle. The overarching theme is love: Otto and Sonya had a close, enduring marriage built on love and devotion and strengthened through grief and hardship. In flashbacks, the film explores the early days of their relationship, telling a story that is sure to touch most viewers – even my cold critic’s heart softened and I will admit to blinking back a few tears as I watched.

Aside from suicide attempts, the movie’s negative content consists of just over two dozen profanities and some scenes of angry pushing and shoving. It’s on the low end of the PG-13 scale and the movie is definitely safe for teen viewers. I’m not sure, however, that a movie that tackles aging, death, love, and loss is going to appeal to adolescents. It certainly won’t do them any harm: considering these issues might even do them good. As for adult viewers, A Man Called Otto is definitely worth a watch. It will fill you with hope and happiness and maybe, just maybe, a desire to reach out to your own neighbors.