It’s been a long time since Tom Hanks has lived with characters who are tough and ultimately doomed to a certain compassion. Time passes, and of course little remains of the romantic comedy heartache he represented in the ’90s with titles like ‘Something to Remember’ or ‘You’ve Got an Email’. Nor is there any sign of the most dramatic actor (“Philadelphia,” “Saving Private Ryan”) or “Forrest Gump,” whose star character defies the laws of tragicomedy. His orbit remained somewhat intact, but now he abuses certain tics: It seems that Hanks is the ideal actor for the sullen and unsympathetic characters that one has managed to reposition socially and emotionally.
After “An Extraordinary Friend” and “Elvis” comes “The World’s Worst Neighbor”, a gentle drama in which Hanks brings home the title character from the 2015 Swedish movie “A Man Named Ove.” Ove here is Otto and his story is the same: widowed, retired and embitteredGradually, he finds new reasons to live with a young Latin American woman who moves in with her family.
After several failed suicide attempts that turned out to be more hilarious than tragic, Otto must help young Marisol. While the images are too sweet, he forms a friendship that sweetens the life of the male protagonist.. Marc Forster shoots the movie with a bit of faith, knowing that Hanks fills everything with his presence. The problem is, there’s a lot to fill and the ‘Bridge of Spies’ hero just can’t do it on his own.