Phillip Vandarploueg (Brendan Fraser) is a pudgy, middle-aged actor who’s carved out a so-so career in Tokyo (his greatest triumph was a toothpaste commercial). Now, struggling to find work, he signs on with a talent agency that hires actors to portray clients’ friends, family and other significant others in real (or seemingly real) situations.
His first role is the “sad American” at a Japanese funeral. As mourners sob, the “deceased” opens his eyes, clearly reveling in eulogies that make him feel appreciated. And that’s the point. People can hire these actors for many reasons: validation (the supposed dead man), confession (a guilt-ridden man who longs to apologize to someone, anyone), or to alleviate loneliness. Phillip’s second gig is as the older Canadian groom at an elaborate wedding. Through the bogus ceremony, the bride’s parents get the traditional union they want, and the bride can leave Japan with her true beloved, a woman.
But the stakes get higher when Phillip is hired to play the long-lost father of an 11-year-old girl. Mia’s single mother fears her child won’t be accepted into an exclusive middle school unless two parents speak at the interview. Not content to fool the admissions officers, mom thinks the ruse won’t work unless Mia also believes Phillip is her dad. And the deception is on.
At first, the child (Shannon Gorman) keeps her distance from a man she feels abandoned her. But soon, the two form a tender bond that is as important to Phillip as to Mia. Unfortunately, the alarmed mother abruptly pulls the plug on their friendship.
In a moving subplot, Phillip plays a journalist interviewing a once-famous actor to make him feel he hasn’t been forgotten. That relationship also deepens over time, until Phillip defies the old man’s caretakers to fulfill his final wish.
Writer-director Hikari walks a fine emotional line with “Rental Family”—flirting with sentimentality, but never descending into schmaltz. The supporting cast is just splendid, especially Takehiro Hira as the agency owner, Mari Yamamoto as Phillip’s coworker and Akira Emoto as the old actor.
But Brendan Fraser is the heart and soul of “Rental Family”—absolutely endearing as a bumbling, uncertain, well-intentioned man who is as lonely as all the people he serves.
In an age of online friends, virtual romances, remote offices and the hundred other ways we’ve invented to distance ourselves from others, “Rental Family” reminds us of the value—the absolute necessity—of true human connection. GRADE: ★★★★
Screen Shots
The Running Man. Contestants on the game show “The Running Man” must escape assassins to win a cash prize. It’s a provocative premise, but Glen Powell gives a a one-note performance that reduces this thriller to a cartoon. GRADE: ★★
Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere. Rising star Bruce Springsteen simultaneously grapples with a troubling past and future stardom. The film is ploddingly paced, but Jeremy Allen White is effective as an uneasy artist on the brink of fame. GRADE: ★★★★
Blue Moon. Cut loose by onetime writing partner Richard Rodgers, lyricist Lorenz Hart (Ethan Hawke) makes light of his ostracism, but can’t disguise deep feelings of heartbreak. “Blue Moon” is excessively talky, but Hawke gives an Oscar-caliber performance. GRADE: ★★★★★
Marjorie Preston is a writer, editor and movie buff. She lives in Brigantine.
