Jeri Jacquin

Coming to Bluray and Digital from director Marc Forster and Sony Pictures Home Entertainment is the complicated history and life of A MAN CALLED OTTO.

Living in a suburb of Pittsburgh and begrudgingly retired, widower Otto (Tom Hanks) is a rigid man with a routine that gets him up daily. He decides that he has had enough of life and had planned to make an end of it. Out the window he sees a boisterous family moving in. A very pregnant Marisol (Mariana Trevino), Tommy (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo), Abby (Alessandra Perez) and Luna (Christiana Montoya) are not exactly what Otto expected.

Marisol makes it clear that she is going to be his friend and tries to learn about him. Otto is not forthcoming with his memories of meeting wife Sonya, their life together or how she passed. His life is changing moment by moment as the neighborhood comes out of hiding to begin to embrace Otto.

From teaching Marisol how to drive out of pure frustration and helping young Malcolm (Mack Bayda) how to care for his bike, Otto is busy again. He even tries to repair a friendship with life-long neighbors Anita (Juanita Jennings) and Reuben (Peter Lawson Jones) and caregiver Jimmy (Cameron Britton). The life he once thought he wanted to end, is a life he now sees with possibilities without having to change his grumpiness.

But what really gets Otto in high gear is when he learns that real estate builders Dye & Merika are forcing his friends out of their home. Now, Otto knows what must be done and how to make his days more than he could have imagined.

He does it all in his own Otto way!

Hanks as Otto has managed to bring a little of every character he has played into this man who’s sadness and inability to budge is charming and endearing. The frightening part is that I have the same fixation with parking spots! When Otto finds Sonya, he finds a woman who accepts him for exactly who he is and Hanks runs with that in his character. I do love that although curt, Otto’s thought process can bring on giggles.

Trevino as Marison is fast talking, a bit loud and will not stop until she knows what Otto is up to. Once she does, she, like Sonya, embraces Otto for who he is and does what she can to help him see the joys he has been missing since his wife’s death. Trevino also gives us the mom who loves her family and embraces everything around her. Trevino gives us such a wonderful character.

Rulfo as Tommy just goes along with his wife and Otto but in such a loving way it is heartwarming. Perez and Montoya as their young daughters are not afraid of Otto but find him rather entertaining. Britton as Jimmy is a caregiver that truly does care about not only Anita and Ruben but all the neighbors.

Bayda as young Malcom remembers Sonya and the times Otto came to class so as everyone else is a bit standoffish. He also sees something more in the man and knows where to turn for help.

Other cast include Mike Birbiglia as Real Estate Agent, Kelly Lamor Wilson as Shari Kenzie, Dave Magee as Dye & Merika Rep, Rachel Keller as Sonya, Emonie Ellison as young Anita, Laval Schley as young Reuben, and Truman Hanks as young Otto.

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment encompasses motion picture production for television, digital content and theater releases. The studios include Columbia Pictures, Screen Gems, TriStar Pictures, Sony Pictures Animation, Stage 6 Films and Sony Picture Classics. To see what is coming to theaters and to home entertainment please visit www.sonypictures.com.

Bonus Materials include Breaking the Rules: Making A MAN CALLED OTTO, ‘Til You’re Home’ Music Video, In the Studio with Rita Wilson & Sebastian Yatra and Deleted Scenes.

A MAN CALLED OTTO is heartwarming story of when a man who has wrapped himself in a cocoon of memories and sadness. Hanks gives us heart, soul and laughter in watching Otto become ‘alive’ once again. The cast starting with Trevino as Marisol has me cheering from start to finish with each character bringing level upon level of compassion.

The film is based on the New York Times Bestseller A Man Called Ove. Gather the family because this story is the definition of a movie night!

In the end – fall in love with the grumpiest man in America!

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