It has Tom Hanks so you expect a certain level of (almost) "greatness" that it just doesn't deliver. Standard grumpy old man vs perky neighbor/friend, pretty much predictable and formulaic.
And of course the now standard "woke" crap that has to be in every single thing coming out of Hollyweird... OK Otto is as stated a grumpy old guy, a stickler for everything being do in a precise way. Cars in the neighborhood must have parking passes, they must be hung on the rearview mirror, garbage must be separated correctly, he shovels snow from his sidewalk every morning, he does not shy away from telling off anyone who deviates from his way of seeing things, ever. Until the trans kid... who he accepts (practically adopts) immediately as if all kids are supposed to be trans. So forced. And the original source book did not have a trans kid in it at all.
The original Swedish movie, based on the book by a Swedish author, achieves what the Hanks version doesn’t. It is heart-warming and well made without being preachy. Tom Hanks elevates every movie he is in, but there are limits to how much even he can polish a turd.
In all my years I've never seen the like. It has to be more than a hundred sea miles and he brings us up on his tail. That's seamanship, Mr. Pullings. My God, that's seamanship!
