It’s 1:30 p.m. on a Saturday and it has been a productive one. I’ve been on the go since about 6:30 a.m. finishing up a couple projects around the house, got my workout in, and grabbed groceries (typically a Sunday morning venture, but I’m not missing the final game day of the Premier League tomorrow).

Now it’s time to relax a bit.

One thing about me is that I’m a sucker for anything mental health. I watched this movie (and I think I actually brought it up on What’s Good a ton of episodes ago) last year for the first time. I want to grab the book and start it soon, but until then, I went back and decided to ease into Saturday afternoon with a familiar watch.

“A Man Called Otto” stars Tom Hanks who plays Otto Anderson, a cranky curmudgeon. Otto is abrasive and unrelenting, but the viewer quickly realizes why: he’s missing the piece that makes him whole. Otto is a widower. He lost his wife and after being forced into early retirement, he plans to join his wife in the afterlife by committing suicide.

Otto tries to end his life four separate times in the movie, but it just isn’t his time. Each attempt, he finds himself returning to his wife Sonya in memories. There’s the initial courtship after a chance meeting on a train, his college graduation and marriage proposal to Sonya, the purchase of their home, their preparation to become parents, and the fateful trip to Niagara Falls that ended in a bus crash causing Sonya to lose their unborn child and become a paraplegic. Through these memories, Otto is ready to return to Sonya, but “interruptions” continue to occur and keep him alive.

While Otto desperately wants to be with Sonya again, new neighbors, old neighbors, complete strangers, and a cat give Otto purpose to remain around for a little longer.

I said earlier, I’m a sucker for anything mental health. I’m also a sucker for a good love story. Otto tells new neighbor Marisol that, “my life was black and white before I met Sonya — she was the color.” That’s the kind of love story I want in my life. Man, if that doesn’t hit you right in the feels, I’m not sure you’re capable of feeling.

Otto’s abrasive personality softens as the movie progresses and he becomes the color to other peoples’ worlds without really setting out to do so. His life still has purpose and eventually, he realizes that it’s not he who is the one to choose when his time is up.

Without giving away the ending, Otto assures that all of “his people” are taken care of and done right by him because he still has some living left to do.

If you’re in need of a good cry, I suggest this movie. The cast is superb and the story is beautifully told.

Have the best weekend ever, friends!