Directed By Hikari

Starring – Brendan Fraser, Takehiro Hira, Mari Yamamoto

The Plot – Set in modern-day Tokyo, the film follows American actor, Phillip (Fraser) who struggles to find purpose until he lands an unusual gig: working for a Japanese “rental family” agency, playing stand-in roles for strangers. As he immerses himself in his clients’ worlds, he begins to form genuine bonds that blur the lines between performance and reality. Confronting the moral complexities of his work, he rediscovers purpose, belonging, and the quiet beauty of human connection

Rated PG-13 for thematic elements, some strong adult language, and suggestive material.

RENTAL FAMILY | Official Trailer | Searchlight Pictures

POSITIVES

If we ever find concrete evidence about the intended purpose of life, I believe that it will be found among the many themes in Hikari’s affectionately human engagement, particularly those pertaining to human connection and a belonging role, which makes life feel all the more meaningful, as a result of the people we touch by our irreplaceable influence. Being that my only experience with the with the writer and director is her TV phenomenon “Beef”, which unraveled a dangerously devastating rivalry through the limitless depths of vitriolic vengeance, it’s nice to see her impressive range as a storyteller with a film that is far more grounded in emotionality and internalized responses, gifting us a sneakily profound and openly vulnerable film about the rarity and bonds of life, especially once purpose reinvigorates us and those surrounding us, who make everyday worth living. What’s most surprising is that Hikari’s direction doesn’t necessarily lend itself to stiff dramatic seriousness, as her grip on the pulse of the movie instead refreshingly inspires audaciously ambitious chances taken with her characters, particularly Phillip, in order to articulate the loneliness and desperation of his bleakly dire situation in such a foreign land. This gives him more than enough motivation to seek out such a fantastically imaginative opportunity, involving actors portraying themselves practically as prostitutes, in order to give real-life people closure to the holes that persist perilously within their lives, but beyond that subtly taps into an appealing underlining of humility within its stakes and situations, which always surmises a light-hearted consistency to so much profound thought that is practically radiating off of the pages of the screenplay, allowing the film to never feel anything but comfortable in the complexities of its own skin, as it responsibly and pleasantly avoids pretentiousness that would condemn a film so in-touch and persistent with the universal language of human connection. Instead, so many of these interactions feel enriched by the kind of grace and naturalism that spawns so much therapeutic nourishment to the characters adorned within the manufactured roles called upon for Phillip, in turn finding that much of his own regretful past echoes the sentiments of those that he’s continuously filling for other people, and while the idea of an organization being sought out to offer closure to ailing people either feels noble or manipulative, depending on how you look at it, the film frequently finds an honest angle into the depths of its emotional outpouring, made all the more impactful on account of Fraser’s gently glowing tenderness to portrayal that makes him virtually irreplaceable in the role. As to where Fraser is supported by memorably eclectic performances in everybody from the stern stoicism of Mari Yamamoto, or the rampant adventurism of Shohei Uno’s Mr. Daitoh, it’s unsurprisingly Fraser that holds the film’s prominence in the palm of his hands, combining his time-honored inherent sweetness and lovable innocence to conjure a fish out of water perspective that persists more from his eye-opening realities inside of a new job opportunity, instead of being an American born citizen living in such an unfamiliar land. Fraser’s most challenging moments pertain to Phillip attempting approachability to inherited conflicts that bare more than a striking resemblance to the character’s own trysts with his distanced father growing up, and though the intercepted trauma is what drives so many of his timidly tender understanding, Fraser’s exuding genuineness is what ultimately appraises the single biggest morality to the character, offering a solidly challenging follow up for the actor, after his Oscar-winning turn in “The Whale”, even if this film doesn’t dig as physically wrenching as that movie required out of him. On top of all of this, I’ve always found Japan to be a place of so much untapped beauty in the 21st century of cinema, with it here emanating cultural artistry that does feel prominent in every single frame of the movie’s presentation. While I have my reservations about the overall stylized technique that Hikari regretfully doesn’t utilize in his monotonously barebones production, I can say that the intoxicating scenic imagery did just enough to vividly immerse me in the establishment of the setting, all the while appraising an unforeseen isolation factor to Phillip’s disposition, which forces him to feel all the lonelier and disconnected than even millions of lines of exposition could ever effectively illustrate.

NEGATIVES

Speaking of that underwhelming personality in presentation, Hikari does do a masterful job at connecting her characters to the universal language of longing, but is ultimately undercut by blandly bumbling editing techniques and unchallenging cinematography, the likes of which don’t produce anything substantive for a director still seeking her own distinct identity after nearly twenty years behind the lens. While I can understand the intention to value substance over style, I wished for some semblance of artistry, especially during the unique perspective of Phillip’s veering vantage point into his various neighbors, while contemplating his own stationary status with life, but unfortunately the filmmaking technique here leaves slightly more to be desired in its reaching towards ambition, resulting in a by-the-numbers execution that I wish took the same kind of daring chances as its screenplay, even with the honorable intention to let his characters and their conflicts do the talking of connecting to their audience. This is not to say that the script is perfection, as even Hikari’s creative storytelling leaves slightly more to be desired in a conventionally cliche’d narrative that packs as much predictability as you would expect from the film’s opening scene. Considering the plot has such a fascinatingly imaginative angle of dissecting grief through artificiality, it never surmises anything that feels like it even closely deviates from the path of precedent in preconceived expectations, an assessment made worse by a climax clumsily tied together by the kinds of contrivances and conveniences that completely squander any semblance of stakes or emotionality, while equally abandoning Phillip’s arc towards feeling like an integral part of the movie’s explorative direction. A lot of this fumbling for focus stems especially from Hikari’s decision to overload the storytelling with as many arcs and angles, in and outside of Phillip, that feels like they fight for framed focus within the tightly constrained 105-minute runtime, but just as much blame can be paid to the movie’s pacing, which takes a nosedive by the second act, spending too much time on tediously excessive arcs, while undercooking others that come as close to the heartfelt center that persists from Fraser’s touching turn. For my money, I would’ve preferred this film to focus entirely on the familial arc of Phillip serving as the distanced father to a little girl’s grief, as it’s the arc that maintained more of my interests than the others. But unfortunately, the dynamic between father and daughter is undercooked so abruptly that it resolves their initial confrontation with a closeness in connection, as quickly as the very next scene between them, leaving any semblance of conflict and adversity frequently resolved by abrasive developments that even now make me feel like a lot is missing from this finished draft of the editing.

OVERALL
“Rental Family” is a charmingly glowing dramedy about the power of human connection amid loneliness, that steals your heart, even if it occasionally fails to maintain your attention. Despite an overwhelmed screenplay attempting far too many angles of insight to its storytelling, and an unsubstantiated style to Hikari’s by-the-numbers direction, Brendan Fraser’s sensitively nourishing performance is the adhesive glue that holds the foundation of this family together, surmising a sweetly enriching crowd pleaser that beneficially balances earnestness and sentimentality, accordingly, even as you know where it’s headed the entire time.

My Grade: 7.6 or B