“A Man Called Ove”

***

(PG-13 1:56)

In Swedish with English subtitles

“Fate is the sum total of our own stupidity,” declares the title character in “A Man Called Ove,” a charming, warm Swedish dramedy about the redemptive power of neighborly love.

“My fate was altered by the stupidity of my neighbors.”

A wonderfully misanthropic 59-year-old factory worker played by the incomparable Rolf Lassgard (Wallander), Ove has lost the will to live after his wife’s death.

As we later learn in a series of well-crafted flashbacks, Ove was born in poverty and grew up in a loveless environment. His life took a radical turn when he met Sonja (played as a young woman by the radiant Ida Engvoll), who gave him direction and purpose.

So he decides to join her in the hereafter. He puts on his best suit and climbs a little stepladder, ready to take the plunge, a ridiculous-looking green-blue nylon rope around his neck.

Thing is, Ove, who works part time as a kind of handyman-concierge on the idyllic suburban cul-de-sac where he lives, does have one overriding passion that outstrips his desire to die: to remind other people just how stupid they are.

As he’s hanging there, his face cycling through every shade of red and purple you can imagine, he sees out his window that his new neighbors are breaking the street’s ban on car traffic.

This happens for several days — Ove slips on the noose, then sees another infraction that sets him off in a rage. Despite his disdain for them, Ove gets to know the new family. A vivacious woman named Parvaneh (Bahar Pars); her mellow husband, Patrick (Tobias Almborg); and their two daughters make for a tender, eminently easygoing unit.

Despite himself, he falls in love with their shared love.

“A Man Called Ove,” which was adapted from Fredrik Backman’s best-seller, has a familiar arc: Ove is drawn out of himself by Parvaneh’s remarkable kindness and learns to embrace life again. It’s skillfully made — and unashamed to play on the viewer’s emotions.