ALEXXANDAR MOVIE REVIEWS: You ought to see ‘Otto’ – Tifton Gazette
“A Man Called Otto” (Drama: 2 hours, 6 minutes)
Starring: Tom Hanks, Mariana Treviño and Manuel Garcia-Rulfo
Director: Marc Forster
Rated: PG-13 (Mature thematic material involving suicide attempts and strong language)
Movie Review: Tom Hanks is always watchable as an actor. Even when a movie is lackluster, he shines. He shines here in this prescribed comedy but it is really a drama packed with plenty of room for emotive moments. The movie is fun to watch even when it is not convincing.
Otto Anderson (Tom Hanks) is a curmudgeon at the highest level. The grumpy senior citizen is an exercise in misanthropy. He believes all humans are idiots. The widower’s main enjoyment comes from his precise daily routine and his continuous criticizing and judging his neighbors.
He changes when an energetic couple, a pregnant and very forthright Marisol and her clumsy husband, Tommy (Garcia-Rulfo), moves next door with their two daughters. Otto and Marisol form a nice and unexpected friendship that changes their lives and those around them.
Marc Forster is keen on directing movies with harsh characters who become likable. He did that with “Monster’s Ball” (2001) and “The Kite Runner” (2007).
Here, Forster helms a screenplay by David Magee, which is an adaptation of Fredrik Backman’s novel, “A Man Called Ove,” and a remake of the 2015 Swedish film directed by Hannes Holm. The screenplay works as a tearjerker. It is more dramatic than comical.
Hanks plays a depressed man. He cannot live with the fact his wife died six months earlier. He just wants to join her — and he tries to join her via four suicide attempts. Each attempt is thwarted by a neighbor interrupting. There, some intended humor rests, but the moments are dramatic as Otto’s memories of his wife surface each moment.
The flashbacks are like a second movie of sorts, where Hanks’ son, Truman, plays the younger Otto. The flashback scenes are nice and romantic but interfere with the daily interactions of the older Otto.
Otto is not a likable man but he does good things for those around him as much as he aggravates them. Yet, the character grows on you. He becomes likable through his actions.
The movie appears forced at moments. It has all the additions to meet the multicultural marks. It has a multiracial cast that invites a larger audience.
Everyone can see someone like them here. However, that is part of the problem. The movie jives like a nursery rhyme as if audiences should get some parable from this allegory.
Hanks is fun to watch as are others of the cast. The movie is interesting in that it works as an inviting people-pleaser and Hanks satisfies as usual.
Grade: B- (The good man Otto.)
“The Old Way” (Western: 1 hour, 35 minutes)
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Ryan Kiera Armstrong, Noah Le Gros, Clint Howard and Nick Searcy
Director: Brett Donowho
Rated: R (Violence)
Movie Review: This western feels like an episode of “Gunsmoke.” That is good and bad. The acting is subpar and leaves just enough to the imagination to inspire humor.
Nicolas Cage plays Colton Briggs, a gunslinger turned respectable husband, father and proprietor. After outlaws led by James McCallister (Le Gros) murder Briggs’s wife, Briggs travels with his 12-year daughter, Brooke (Armstrong), to avenge his wife. Along the way, Briggs realizes he and McCallister have a history.
“The Old Way” is Academy Award winner Nicolas Cage’s first turn as an actor in a Western. Something comical exists about seeing Cage as a character in this period. He appears out of place.
Brett Donowho (“Acts of Violence,” 2018) directs this by-the-book Western. It feels familiar, like a milder version of “True Grit,” 1969. The best scene may be the gunfight at the end and those action scenes appear rushed.
Grade: C (The stale way.)
Playing at Valdosta Stadium Cinemas
“M3GAN” (Thriller, Science Fiction: 1 hour,42 minutes)
Starring: Allison Williams, Violet McGraw and Jenna Davis
Director: Gerard Johnstone
Rated: PG-13 (Violent content and terror, some strong language and a suggestive reference)
Movie Review: “M3gan” is an interesting thriller but it is really another cautionary tale about technology and humanity. Even more, “M3gan” is another version of the “Terminator” franchise that starred Arnold Schwarzenegger, and it is in the mode of Chucky from the “Child’s Play” movies, particularly the 2019 prequel.
It is a new year, but moviemakers should realize this science-fiction narrative is becoming repetitive. Humans create an artificial intelligence that becomes a major threat to humanity.
The threat this outing is Megan, a Model 3 Generation Android, played Amie Donald and voiced by Jenna Davis. Gemma (Williams), a robotics engineer at a toy company, builds a prototype android M3gan, a life-like doll can think and make decisions. Gemma made M3gan for her niece, Cady (McGraw), to help a young Cady adjust after the death of her parents. The problem is M3gan becomes fully autonomous and goes on offense anytime the android thinks someone is a threat to Cady.
Human builds machine. Machine rebels when it realizes it is more capable than its creator.
This is a timeworn theme in science-fiction movies. “M3gan” continues this familiar trend.
Director Gerard Johnstone (“Housebound,” 2014) and his team deserve some credit for the thrills and visual aspects of this tale. “M3gan” does not spare the deaths of anyone. The android kills children, senior citizens and even pets. These moments are daring for a PG-13 rating. Additionally, some visual effects are engaging, especially the M3gan doll visuals. The rest is a been-there-done-that screenplay.
Grade: C+ (Next generation of entertaining duplication.)
Playing Valdosta Stadium Cinemas
“The Whale” (Drama: 1 hour, 57 minutes)
Starring: Brendan Fraser, Hong Chau, Sadie Sink, Ty Simpkins and Samantha Morton
Director: Darren Aronofsky
Rated: R (Language, drug use, sexual content)
Movie Review: “The Whale” is another movie of 2022 where the acting and Brendan Fraser’s transformation into his character are better than the story. The movie is an intriguing drama that fascinates even when this script’s overly liberal preachiness irritates.
The fascinating character is Charlie (Fraser), a morbidly obese and reclusive English professor. He teaches online college writing courses and keeps his webcam off, so his students cannot see his appearance. The only people he communicates with are his best friend, Liz, a nurse and Charlie’s caretaker, and the pizza delivery guy Dan (Sathya Sridharan), who converses with Charlie through the door.
Thomas (Simpkins), a Christian missionary, has also become a recent visitor, believing God sent him to be in Charlie’s life.
In one week, he attempts to reconnect with his estranged daughter Ellie (Sink), a rebellious teenager.
“The Whale” is a screenplay by Samuel D. Hunter. It is an adaptation of his 2012 stageplay titled the same. Near all of “The Whale’s” scenes are in Charlie’s apartment except for beach scenes in flashbacks. The setting works nicely. We understand Charlie more through the condition of his apartment.
The problem is this movie feels like a stage play, one that appears anti-religion and pro-gay rights with continual bickering characters. None of these people appear to be happy. Their unhappiness creates a story with a dystopian presence.
At the heart of this great suffering is Charlie. He suffers a heart attack on Monday. Through several scenes starting on Monday and ending on Friday, we learn he is gay, depressed and grieving his partner.
He also wants to connect with his daughter. Life is weighing him down more than his weight.
Fraser is heavily weighed down by his bulky prosthetics, as he plays a man obsessed by his daughter’s eighth-grade essay about Moby Dick; Herman Melville’s 1851 novel.
Fraser is outfitted with prosthetics that weigh up to 300 pounds. This no doubt contributes to his fine performance as Charlie. Fraser’s movement appears to inspire a struggle, and he sweats profusely.
Fraser plays the character in a way that does not garner sympathy for his appearance but rather the character’s inability to establish connections with others.
You want to see him happy but the poor guy does not appear to have the drive to do so other than making sure his daughter, Ellie, will be OK after he is gone.
Fraser is award-worthy in this role. He should get many accolades for his dramatic turn. This comes from the guy that started in movies with the comedies “Encino Man” (1992) and “George of the Jungle” (1997). However, Fraser has always been exceptional in dramas. The notables are “Gods and Monsters” (1998), “The Quiet American” (2002) and “Crash” (2004). He is a talented actor. “The Whale” allows him the chance to show his talents once again.
Darren Aronofsky, the director of “Black Swan” (2010), worked for nearly a decade to turn Hunter’s stageplay into a screenplay. The effort is good but could be better after that length of time. The fault is not his.
Hunter’s screenplay is like watching a stage production and not a movie. The narrative also spends too much time with squabbling characters and bashing religion. Plus, the characters are irritating because they do not take no for an answer. The processes are too repetitive that realism escapes through windows witnessed in many scenes.
That noted, Fraser makes the movie. He is sensational, delivering a magnanimous performance. He is worth seeing.
The best scene is when Charlie reveals himself to his college students by turning on the webcam. The reaction of the students felt authentic. The scene is the most genuine part of this screenplay. Something about that moment puts this movie in perspective and makes up for lesser moments.
Grade: B- (A bigger-than-life Fraser swims mightily.)
Playing at Valdosta Stadium Cinemas
Adann-Kennn Alexxandar has been reviewing movies for more than 20 years in South Georgia.