On January 12, a new tape with Tom Hanks “My Terrible Neighbor” appeared in Ukrainian cinemas. This is the second incarnation of the Swedish writer Frederik Buckman’s book “Uve’s Second Life” on the big screen, which was created by the director of “Christopher Robin”, “World War Z” and “007: Quantum of Mercy”. In this review, you will find out whether the novelty is worth paying attention to, and whether it was able to stand on the same level as the acclaimed Swedish adaptation of 2015.

“My terrible neighbor” / A Man Called Otto

Genre drama, comedy
Director Mark Forster
In the role Tom Hanks, Rachel Keller, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Cameron Britton
Premiere cinemas
Release year 2023
Site IMDb

Otto (Tom Hanks) does not like people, he constantly grumbles and clings to little things, but he loves order. He diligently takes care of his residential area, so he constantly quarrels with neighbors and employees of various services.

New neighbors cause even more trouble for the man – pregnant Mexican Marisol (Mariana Trevino) with her husband Tommy (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo) and two children. They constantly ask Otto to help them in some way, and distract from the main task – to lay hands on themselves to meet in heaven with their recently deceased wife, Sophia.

When watching the new film and, when analyzing it further, one cannot help but compare it with the first film adaptation of 2015, “Uve’s Second Life” by director Hannes Holm. The picture even made it to the Oscar shortlist in the Best Foreign Language Film category.

Probably, the creators of “My Terrible Neighbor” themselves understand this, because the credits indicate that the film is based not only on the book by Frederick Buckman, but also on the same tape.

It is also worth noting that everyone will like this movie: those who read the book and watched the first movie, those who are unfamiliar with the original sources. It’s just that the first will like the American adaptation less, and the second will like it more. And that’s okay, because some will have something to compare it to, while others won’t.

“My Terrible Neighbor” loses to the Swedish film adaptation in terms of intimacy and the depth of processing the main character’s story. Uwe’s Second Life is more guided by the book, delves deeper into the hero’s past, tells in detail about his relationship with his father, who played a significant role in the boy’s formation, and then with his wife.

But the American adaptation completely removed the episodes with the father, and his existence is mentioned only in one dialogue. The backstory of Otto’s relationship with his wife Sofia was cut a little, because the main emphasis was on Hanksy, who plays his character here and now.

No matter how cool and, most importantly, naturally, Swedish actor Rolf Lassgaard played the role of Uve, Tom Hanks did it much better and more dramatically. His Otto sinks into the viewer’s brain almost instantly, penetrates thoughts and stays for a long time.

“My Terrible Neighbor” is designed for an American audience, so the story is adapted to the realities of the United States. Iranian migrants became Mexican, Volvos and SAABs were replaced by Fords and Chevrolets, added a bit of middle-class problems, the difficult lives of transgender people, etc. “Uve’s Second Life” also shows the problems of Sweden itself, but they are ours, European, and therefore much closer and more understandable.

In everything else: the quality of filming, the performance of secondary actors and the young main character with his wife (their roles were played by Tom Hanks’ son Truman and actress Rachel Keller), the selection of roles, musical accompaniment and cinematography, “My Terrible Neighbor” is better than the first adaptation.

Pros:
the incredible acting of Tom Hanks, the well-executed role of Marisol, the quality adaptation of European cinema to the American one, a great cast, great humor and respect for the original sources.

Cons:
cutting off the main character’s relationship with his father, cutting off part of the story of young Otto and his wife Sofia, targeting the American audience removes the film from the European audience

Conclusion:

“My Terrible Neighbor” is a vivid sensual cinema, which is sometimes so lacking in today’s pursuit of blockbusters and comic book movies. The picture once again proves that if Tom Hanks is shooting here, the film is worth watching. The actor perfectly coped with the difficult role of a man who suffers and is angry at the whole world because of the loss of a loved one.

The film respects the original sources, but still does not show some important moments of the main character’s relationship with his father and wife. The reworking of the story for the American audience, although performed at the highest level, still distances us, Europeans, from understanding some moments of the film. But the film adaptation still turned out great, so we recommend everyone to watch it