Film Review: A MAN CALLED OVE (Sweden 2015) ****

Director: Hannes Holm

Writers: Hannes Holm (screenplay), Fredrik Backman (novel)

Stars: Rolf Lassgård, Bahar Pars, Filip Berg

Review by Gilbert Seah

Nominated for two Academy Awards for Best Foreign Film and Make-up & Hairstyling, A MAN CALLED OVE stands to compete with the big guys like the favourites THE SALESMAN, TONI ERDMANN and THE LAND OF MINE but the film has already been a hit in the U.S. when it opened last September as well as in its native country Sweden. The film is a dark horse but it might just be the winner as the Academy is made up of older voters and this film about an old retied widower is just the type of film that suits the voters.

Based on Fredrik Backman’s beloved novel (a 3.8 million bestseller), A MAN CALLED OVE tells the story of Ove (Rolf Lassgård from Downsizing, The Hunters, After the Wedding), a…