A Man Called Ove

“A Man Called Ove” is a Swedish film based on the best selling novel by Frederik Bachman who together with director Hannes Holm wrote the screenplay. The well known  Swedish actor, Rolf Lassgard. portrays Mr. Ove in this story of a widowed senior who confronts the loss of his wife and ponders his future as he meets and interacts with new neighbors and acquaintances in the small town where he and his wife lived. This is a simple film filled with simple characters who in some way or another bring hope and joy to their otherwise bland existences. What makes the film work is that it is effortless viewing as the audience, via flashback, witnesses the youth and adulthood of Mr. Ove and how, in each instance, he plays the hands life has dealt him. I give the film 3 and ½ stars with a note to anyone wishing to see it that it will no longer be distributed and available for viewing after October 13, an indeed unlucky number for anyone who misses it.