Good news for the end of arguably the worst week in every year: Cranky Tom Hanks is as watchable as many other big-screen incarnations of Tom Hanks.
This story of the grump who needs to get out of his own way is tender, funny, and life-affirming but should also come with a caveat: there is a lot about bereavement and suicide in A Man Called Otto.
Here, Hanks is the widower whose bewilderment spills out as a pathological need to control his environment and everyone in it. Of course, he fails miserably - more so when happy-go-lucky parents and kids move in across the street and leave a breadcrumb trail of hope and renewal outside his front door.
Director Marc Forster's eclectic CV includes Oscar winners (Monster's Ball), Bond (Quantum of Solace), zombies (World War Z), and now this Gran Torino lite charmer - based on the 2012 Fredrik Backman book A Man Called Ove, which was made into a Swedish film in 2015. You'll count your blessings, not the minutes.
Like the recent Mrs Harris Goes to Paris, A Man Called Otto is comfort blanket cinema that thrives on predictability and will have you looking forward to the nice thing you just know is going to happen soon.
The big surprise is Hanks' co-star Mariana Treviño, who brings an A-game worthy of the master as Otto's bright light of a neighbour Marisol. Otto teaches Marisol to drive; Treviño will get the keys to her own starring vehicle before long.
With Hanks' wife, Rita Wilson, joining him as producer and their son, Truman, making his acting debut as the young Otto, all involved will want you to make it a family affair too. Certainly, anyone with a sweet tooth can have their fill here in more ways than one.
This isn't Top 10 Tom Hanks, but it's definitely Top 20.
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