Rental Family is the only film that made me laugh in five minutes and broke my heart ten minutes later! It is directed and co-written by Hikari who also directed 37 Seconds (2019), a Japanese drama movie. Stephen Blahut, the film’s co-writer, was the cinematographer for 37 Seconds. Rental Family is currently streaming on Hulu. The movie opens with a blurry of activity on Tokyo streets. Crowds of people walking this way or that way. The frantic music is by Jon Thor Birgisson and Alex Somers.
At a train station, Philip Vanderploeg (Brendan Fraser) rushes to the train, but the doors close on him. Fraser is of course coming from his Academy Award winning performance in The Whale (2022). Philip finally makes to an office building for an audition. Another actor leaves the room. Philip shyly says he is there, and brought in. He introduces himself and then goes into his lines about finding a culprit in some crime drama. Philip then bows and leaves, outside he has an uncertain expression, then we find himself outside of a set.
He is on a chair in a massive tree suit! It’s funny! Another actor walks out in a pink bunny suit. We close in on Phillip’s overwhelmed face. He is at an almost empty bar, Philip asks him how he knew, and the bartender replies, “Your face.” Philip enters a crowded subway and takes a seat on the subway train. You can feel his intense loneliness. He sees on the other side, a salary man asleep. He returns to his apartment, getting the mail, inside his closet is a costume that looks like Mr. Sparkle from The Simpsons, hilarious!
Philip sets his meal next to the window and looks at the apartments in the next building. He sees a couple giving each other a cheer with bottles, a woman walking to her balcony, and an elderly man hanging up clothes by the window. On the outside looking in. Haunting music by Birgisson and Somers. Then, a pan out as we see Philip alone with his drink. Later, his cell phone buzzes, Philip wakes up to take a call from his agent from EZ Talent, Sonia (Helen Sadler) who has a job for him at Saitama, it is about a 23 minute ride by public transport.
He asks her what is the part and Sonia answers, “Sad American.” In his suit, Philip greets the receptionist in Japanese and she whispers for him to go inside. It is a funeral for Mr. Daito. Philip tries to quietly move through a row of mourners. Miss Nakajima (Mari Yamamoto) is called up to say words about her friend. Yamamoto currently plays Dr. Keiko Miura in Monarch: Legacy of Monsters. She says she was in love with him and they had their first kiss. The mourners cry. Mr. Daito (Shohei Uno) is in his coffin and Philip is startled.
Miss Nakajima cries about his early death and Mr. Daito cries. The mourners are asked to say final words to Mr. Daito. They bow to him and Philip sees Mr. Daito with a smile on his face. Tado Shinji (Takehiro Hira) who has arranged the funeral is thanked by the family. Hira also stars in Monarch: Legacy of Monsters and plays Hiroshi Randa. It has given Mr. Daito “a reason to exist.” It seems absurd, almost dark humor, but finding value in death, even as a performance with an actor like Philip, is meaningful. Philip walks back to the room with the empty coffin. He tries to squeeze himself in the small coffin and closes his eyes.
He is wakened by Shinji speaking in Japanese who tells Philip is docking his pay for being late. Shinji tells him it will be 15 minutes until the next service! Shinji thanks his workers and Philip runs up to ask if it was all fake. He is told that it is a “specialized performance.” Philip is asked how long he has been in Japan and his reply is seven years. This conversation shifts to Japanese and English from line to line. Shinji gives him his business card before he walks away.
It reads Rental Family, Inc. Philip heads over to the company and knocks. He enters seeing Miss Nakajima and another worker, Kota (Kimura Bun), while Shinji is on the phone. Bun played Koji in the crime drama series, Tokyo Vice. He finishes his call and then has Philip take a seat across from his chair. Philip jokingly says the business is selling people. Shinji says, “We sell emotion.” He explains that they play all roles for a person, acting as a surrogate, “to help connect to what is missing.” They could be family members, boyfriends or girlfriends, coworkers, or best friends.
This seems a wild concept, but on second thought there is the Big Brother and Big Sister organizations. Rental family is more transactional, but this may make Japanese. It started in the 1990s and also includes South Korea and China. Philip brings up therapists, but Tado answers that it would be disrepectful to get such help. He wonders what his job would be and Tado says they need “a token white guy.” Funny! Philip apologizes and then gets up to leave. Tado says he loved his toothpaste commercial.
We see billboard screens of the commercial. A family is attacked by little black-suited plaque creatures. The famliy wonders what to do when Philip appears in superhero costume, the Clearbright Man. The family dances with him before he flies off on his giant toothbrush! This is hilarious like Mr. Sparkle in The Simpsons. Too funny! Kota recognizes him and renacts the commercial! Tado says he can go back to his acting jobs and try Rental Family. There is a beautiful shot of Mt. Fuji, hazy in the distance, above Tokyo. The cinematographer is Takuro Ishizaka.
Aiko sitting next to Philip is discussing the terms of a wedding. The company provides guests except the client’s parents and family. The client, Yoshie Ikeda (Misato Morita) nods in agreement. There will be the ceremony, reception, and then move to Canada. Philip asks in English why they will go to Canada, Aiko explains that Brian Callahan is Canadian and his job is there. He asks Yoshie in English about what her parents think about the wedding. She replies that they are surprised, but happy.
We see Yoshie walking away while Philip asks if she can’t leave her family, Aiko says she loves them. At night on the street, Aiko tells him to memorize everything in the folder. The buildings of Tokyo, the next day, with storm clouds building up. Tado greets the guests. He checks in with Aiko about the wedding. Kota knocks on the door of the room for Brian (Phillip). He opens the door to find an empty room! Yoshie has a white kimono, wataboshi, hood, and pale make-up. Kota politely shuffles over to Aiko. They head outside and Kota reports he can’t find Phillip! Runaway groom! Aiko rushes over to Tado to tell him the situation. They meet with the family as the trio discuss what to do. Tado has them take each floor to search for the groom!
They rush into rooms, down stairs, all the while trying to act if there is no emergency. It’s kinda funny in the awkwardness. Aiko checks the men’s room for Phillip. At a stall, she finds him in his black kimono, he says he needs a moment. He is reluctant because the wedding is a lie. The concept of Rental Family is making him nervous. This frustrates Aiko so she stands over the stall on a step ladder to say it’s not a lie. I like her frustration about his nervousness. Aiko says the parents get their memories of the wedding and the bride gets her freedom. She rushes him out. This contrasts with the gentle flute playing, a waterfall, and the wedding party walking up a path with a little lake. It is beautiful and seeing the bride and groom makes me think of James Bond and Kissy Suzuki in You Only Love Twice (1967).
They drink from the sake and say their vows. The wedding photographer taking photos of the family, Philip smiles as well as his “mother in law”, funny! His “father in law” welcomes him to the family in English and they hug. On a couch in the bridal suite, Philip in white suit sits across from Youshie, now in a green dress, on a couch. He says it was a beautiful wedding. They look on until a bell rings. A woman, Jun (Nanami Kawakami) in a white suit walks in. What happens, the realization, is devastating and bittersweet. What will we go through to get a happy life. I love the contrast of a funeral that has a joyful ending and a wedding that is bittersweet. This captures the tone of the movie.
The next part after this introduction to Rental Family and Philip has a woman, Lola (Tamae Ando) snuggling with Philip in bed. Ando was in the drama, Perfect Days (2023). He says that it was fake, but “there were moments that it felt real.” She says they are the same, she helps people physically and he helps people emotionally. This girlfriend is there to bounce off ideas about Rental Family, but her part is small here. I can see that she would steer the story away from a stereotypical romantic connection with co-worker Aiko.
Morning, Philip apologizes for the incident at the wedding. Tado asks Philip if he is dedicated to the job and he assures his boss that hiding in the bathroom will never happen again. Tado gives him the part of a father. Aiko says he is not ready and Tado sends her out to get some air. Kota joins her. Tado shows him the folder of a little girl needs a father to enter a private school. Her mother was rejected the first time she tried to enter her daughter. He explains that the mother wants her daughter to have a father to get confidence. Philip admits he grew up without a father.
Shinji says the private school test is in three weeks and so Philip will have to get to know the girl. At night, Philip walks the street until he finds Aiko at a restaurant. When he takes a seat, she gets up to leave, he asks that she stay for five minutes. Aiko is still angry at his reluctance at the wedding and calls him a gaijin, foreigner, who will never understand Japanese culture. Ouch! Philip says he is gaijin, but that he is home in Japan and wants to understand.
It isn’t the language that Philip needs to tackle, he speaks Japanese very well, but has to get past the cultural barrier. He asks Aiko why she works at Rental Family. She says the people look at them like they waited their whole lives. Tado says on the phone that he is coming home. He enters his house, his wife (Yuka Itaya) is cooking dinner, he asks about the game and his wife shakes her head in a negative. Tada sits next to his son (Hinata Kaizu) who says he lost the soccer game missing a pentalty kick. He gets encouragement from Tado. Beautiful shots of Tokyo at night. Philip is at his balcony, practicing meeting Mia, who will be his daughter, as Kevin.
The next day, Philip walks into a building to meet with Hitomi Kawasaki (Shino Shinozaki), Mia’s mother. This is the first film for Shinozaki. She brings him a backpack that Mia always wanted and Hitomi also adds her daughter doesn’t know he is meeting her. Philip follows Hitomi who takes a seat next to Mia (Shannon Mahina Gorman), comoplte with pigtails, reading a book. This is also Gorman's first movie. She introduces Mia to Kevin, he gives a kinda smile. The look she gives him, the father she never knew, it just looks like years of being ignored. He gives her the backpack and she throws it at him! Philip tries to apologize and Mia runs away.
He says her mom needed him to help her get into the private school. She pushes him back. Hitomi catches up to them and confirms that Kevin is needed. Mia holds up her pinkie and has him swear never to leave them. He agrees and Mia sings a Japanese song that if he breaks the swear he will swallow a thousand needles and die! She pulls away her mother to walk down steps. An older man tries to apologize to a room filled with cardboard executives. Tado shouts at him and the man bows saying he begs forgiveness from taking from the employee retirement fund! He takes a call from Philip who says, “She hates me!” Tada says that’s being a parent. He has a new client, the actor, Kikuo Hasegawa.
Tado explains that Kikuo’s daughter thinks he is forgotten so she wants someone to interview him.This is fascinating, a successful actor having a struggling actor to remind him of his work. Philip reads a book by Kikuo while on the subway. He introduces himself as John Conway to the house keeper, Mrs. Ogawa (Masayo Umezawa). He is led into the house and told don’t bring up the Ronin of Hiroshima. Philip enters Kikuo’s room, jazz is playing as Kikuo (Akira Emoto) is asleep in a chair. Emoto is a veteran actor who was in The Blind Swordsman: Zatoichi (2003). Philip quietly looks at his photos and trophies.
He is startled when Kikuo asks him if he is a thief, Philip says he is a writer, Kikuo says, “All writers are thieves.” His desk has a katana and several kabuki masks. Philip introduces himself as a reporter from Vivid Frame magazine. Kikuo looks closely at his business card. He asks in English if he plays music, Philip says his father played bass, Kikuo bursts up and enacts the improvisation of jazz in a sort of dance! His English is struggling, but perfectly understandable. I just love the grumpy, seasoned actor. Masami (Sei Matobu), Kikuo’s daughter rushes up to her father. She brings his sandals, but he likes walking barefoot. Masami is the daughter who really doesn’t understand her father. Kikuo is the elderly man who still has so much to say, but no one to listen.
The next day, Philip is early to meet with Mia and Hitomi, his earliness shows how much Mia and Kikuo mean to him. The young and the elderly, both needing connection, wuthg Philip who is disconnected. Mia passes him to go into school. Material are brought by the students to their table, the parents stand against the wall until the teacher calls them to help build an animal with their kids. Philip sits next to Mia, but she leaves him to go to a boy, Shion (Rikuto Ishizuka) who is alone, no family. Mia asks Philip if he can be his dad as she brings to her table. He says he wants to build a “Shark-topus.” Mia and Shion, she thanks him, and gives him a gift, a wire of jellyfish.
Later, Philip hangs up the jellyfish artwork at his window and smiles. This movie is so kind and wonderful. Sundown on Tokyo Tower, Philip gets a call from Toda who tells him to go to Karoke Box. Aiko is in a silver dress singing next to a short woman in a similar dress. Philip answer the phone on the street saying he loves video games. He plays a wrestling game next to a guy in a dark, cluttered room. The karaoke tune plays over the various jobs. Philip renacts a line from Kikuo’s films, “I will follow you.” Kikuo stands up with a kendo stick because it is from his movie he particularly doesn’t like, hilarous! Even though the story may be in a different culture and language, I think it applies even more to any audience because it is about human experience.
Five+ Business Cards out of Five!
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