“A Man Called Otto” star Tom Hanks did not take the responsibility of portraying his character’s suicide attempts lightly.
“A Man Called Otto,” adapted from the best-selling novel “A Man Called Ove” by Frederik Backman and also based on the Swedish feature film, follows Otto (Hanks), a grumpy old man who clings to rules and order to prevent unnecessary chaos. Deep down, he misses his late wife Sonja (Rachel Keller), who challenged his black-and-white thinking with her colorful, sweet personality.
Otto wants nothing more than to join Sonya in the afterlife, a desire that drives him to multiple suicide attempts in different ways.
“Because it was firmly rooted in both the novel in the original movie, it is part of what the story has to be. The responsibility that comes along with that, we did not take that lightly at all,” Hanks said in an interview with TheWrap. “Because on one hand, there’s nothing funny about it, but on the other hand, I think the lesson of the movie is that God wanted Otto to live.”
Hanks emphasized that this message gets incorporated into the greater aspects and details of the movie, such as the interruptions of the attempts.
“On the first one, Otto lands in a pile of newspapers and he sees the ad [for a deal on flowers] and he takes it rips the ad out and turns it in,” Hanks said. “Another one is, someone comes at the door right about right at the time and that that visit to the door is a very important one to both characters as it goes on.”
Marisol (Mariana Treviño) and her husband Tommy (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo) slowly fill the void left by Sonya in Otto’s life once they become his neighbors. Just like with Sonya, Otto meets his match in the firm but warm Marisol, who “wears the pants” in the relationship and senses the sadness about Otto.
“Fredrik Backman, the author, really did an incredible job in balancing between tragedy and comedy in the book, and I think also in the original movie. So for us, making the American version, it was really striving for that silver lining between comedy and drama,” said director Marc Forster. “That we were able to really capture that and capture the sort of truthfulness of Otto, and not shy away from the dark but also, in taking that very seriously, deal with it.”
A third attempt fails to go through when one of Sonya’s former students Malcolm (Mack Bayda), whom Otto bonds with when he delivers newspapers, knocks on the front door to ask Otto if he can stay with him after his parents have kicked him out because they don’t like his decision to become transgender.
“I think, like the trick of any of this is to do three things. One is to incorporate it as it needs to be in the story. Number two, make sure that it is just realistic enough for everybody to understand the stakes, but then in three to point out in no uncertain terms, that this is not fate dictated to Otto,” Hanks added. “
“In fact, just the opposite is it ain’t gonna work because it’s not supposed to work. Hopefully, anything that goes along with this will be part of — it has to be a bigger conversation of ‘Isn’t it good that it didn’t work for this man? ‘Yeah, There’s some degree of hope and positive feedback that you can bring to the whole question.”
Forster points to the end of the film as the final puzzle piece that completes the story.
“Ultimately, it’s a life-affirming movie that brings a community together, and that’s what I love the most about it,” the director said. “He ultimately sees why has to liv,e because of the community, he has things to do, and he has to go on. That’s where I said I have to make this movie because that’s brought me so much joy.”
The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline is a free, 24/7 confidential service that can provide people in suicidal crisis or emotional distress, or those around them, with support, information and local resources. Simply dial 9-8-8.