TIFF Movie Review: "Rental Family" is Pure Movie Magic
Every now and then, even in today’s cinema, a film will come along and challenge the viewers to take a journey into the ordinary, while also seeing the beauty and extraordinary world that we live in. Some movies are philosophical in their approach to telling stories, and some movies will beat the audience to a pulp with overindulgent confusing plotlines. In this world of cinema there are few movies that hit the heights and depths that Brendan Fraser’s newest movie Rental Family achieves.
Rental Family is that rare unicorn of a film that will not only invite audiences to see themselves in the form of the main character but will ultimately leave you asking questions about yourself and the life that you live.
The latest film from Searchlight Pictures and director Hikari introduces us to Phillip Vandarploeug played by Brendan Fraser. Phillip has been living in Tokyo for the last seven years hoping to ignite his acting career after having a successful toothpaste commercial. Success is far from Phillip’s life, and between going to auditions and living in his apartment staring out at his neighbors and their lives, Phillip is far from finding any meaning to his life, until he gets a call to play a mourner at a fake funeral.
Confused by what he takes part in, Phillip learns from Shinji (Takehiro Hira) that he was hired by his ‘Rental Family’ agency, and this is a normal practice throughout Japan. Loneliness comes in many forms, and the Japanese are willing to rent people to help them get by. In need of work, Phillip agrees to take more jobs with the company.
With guidance from Shinji, Phillip is introduced to the rest of the employees, including Aiko (Mari Yamamoto) and starts to take on more jobs. At first Phillip plays a groom in a pretend wedding, impersonates a young girl’s father to help her and her mother get the child into the best school, plays video games with a reclusive man, and plays the part of a journalist who is there to interview an aging and dying Japanese movie star.
As Phillip develops a deeper connection to his clients, he struggles to remain distant from the emotional connection he is building with these people. Phillip wants to help them. Unfortunately for Phillip, the people who hired him, may not appreciate his connection to their loved ones.
Some of the best movies will make the audience feel like they are watching reality on the screen. Big budget blockbusters are great escapes, and I thoroughly enjoy them, but movies that have meaning and heart, a humanity that is lacking in many spectacle elements of cinema are becoming few and far between. Often, you need to look to prestige television to see these types of stories.
Hikari’s new film is quite simply a masterpiece. From the opening to the last moment on the screen, viewers will be swept up into Tokyo and take the journey that Phillip takes. There are no right or wrong ways to appreciate the film. Phillip plays the fish out of water character in the form of the American living in Paris. Each time we see Brendan Fraser walking through the streets of Tokyo or trying to catch the train, it’s clear and simply put, his character is different than everyone else.
The fact that Phillip is American has not stopped him from learning Japanese, nor being able to connect with the clients in a unique and special way that their families have not been able to. In fact, it is his outsider role that helps the people to see how much they have missed out on with their loved ones.
Phillip spends significant time with a client named Kikuo Hasegawa, an aging Japanese movie star who is played brilliantly by Akira Emoto. Hasegawa is old, bordering on dementia, and his daughter hires Phillip to keep him company by posing as a journalist. The bonds and friendship that Phillip develops with Kikuo leads to one of the most touching and emotional moments on screen. The jailbreak that Phillip initiates for Kikuo and the journey that they take will not leave a dry eye in the theatre.
So, what is cinema supposed to do? Movies are meant to be stories that are told and enjoyed by audiences. They can inspire, cause one to dream, learn about the past, or in the case of Rental Family, remind the audience to connect with the present.
We get to see how disconnected Phillip is from the world at the beginning of the film, and it is his unconventional job as part of the ‘Rental Family’ agency that enables him to connect with and live a life that is fulfilling. The world has gotten to the point that people disconnect when situations get tough. As we learn in the movie, many are willing to rent other people’s time to have some fulfillment. While Phillip is offering his clients the security and connection they need, he too is benefiting from the service. The vehicle with which Phillip is helping others, is healing him.
The world is a vast and difficult place with a mountain of troubles that bother us, but the beauty that is found in Hikari’s masterpiece of visual cinema and heartfelt connection is the message that sometimes in helping others, we end up helping ourselves.
If Rental Family is not in contention for major awards, I will be saddened that the joy of life that this film preaches from the mountains was lost in the void of the real world. Brendan Fraser and Akira Emoto should easily be considered for all major awards, including bringing them both to the stage on Oscar night, and Hikari should be nominated for Best Picture, Best Screenplay, and Takuro Ishizaka should easily nab a Best Cinematography nomination from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts.
This is a movie to be seen with an audience, so that you can feast upon the sumptuous beauty of the story, the visuals, and the resounding joy that everyone will feel when the final credits run.