Adriana Fernández/Reform Agency
Saturday, December 24, 2022 | 06:55
Mexico City.- “I have a reputation for being grumpy in any case, I am no longer of an age to correct myself”, is a reflection of the writer Fernando Fernán Gómez. And it is that as we age: we become more lightened and extravagant, or more angry and intolerant.
Otto (Tom Hanks) is a very methodical older man, who has a long list of rules, willing to enforce them to whoever dares to break them. But this engineer has a secret plan, regarding his life. He doesn’t know that his plans will be upset by a family.
This film based on the Swedish novel and film A Man Called Ove (Holm, 2015) might seem like an innocuous sweet product, very ad-hoc with the Christmas dates, but it goes much further.
The film has several advantages: on the one hand, there is the story that transcends what could be expected in a feel-good movie, seeing loneliness in older adults up close; the sense of abandonment and contempt that permeates this segment of the population, especially in countries like the United States.
In this sense, the tape manages to squeeze us, and on more than one occasion, our eyes get wet. What a brutal blow loneliness is.
At the center of our commotion is Tom Hanks. Far from his warm and kind roles, here he is irascible, impatient, rude. But the layers of his character are peeling off and the role is becoming more complex.
Accompanying him are two Mexican actors: Mariana Treviño, playing Marisol, is fresh, fluid, irreverent, empathetic, brings salt and sympathy. The chemistry with Hanks is genuine. And Manuel García-Rulfo as Tommy, her husband, who makes a good sidekick.
This film has its good doses of rudeness, but also warmth. A perfect movie to watch as a family and remember, although sometimes we could not stand the rest of us, we have to behave relieved.
A GRUMPY NEIGHBOR
Three stars
Directed by: Marc Forster
Starring: Tom Hanks, Mariana Trevino, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo
Duration: 126 min.
