Rental Family

Brendan Fraser started out in comedies and action films in the 1990s, and his career has evolved following his Oscar win for The Whale, with a small supporting role in Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon. His first leading role since his Oscar win is Hikari’s Rental Family, which follows a jobbing American actor in Tokyo, jumping from audition to audition, adrift in the world. He finds an opportunity with the Rental Family agency, offering him roles that have meaning in people’s lives.

This sees him integrating under multiple aliases, from a fake husband to a long-lost father and journalist (among other roles). Initially uncomfortable with the sense of duplicity, he comes to find solace with those he is helping, bringing something that has been lacking for them, be it companionship, help to get into school or someone to relay stories to.

Fraser brings an everyman charm to Philip, helping him begin to feel comfortable in Japan after seven years of living there. It is a performance that mixes English and Japanese, Fraser handling this deftly and bringing natural warmth, Philip keen to help improve the lives of his “clients”. Takehiro Hira and Mari Yamamoto are strong foils as the owner of Rental Family and one of the team, ably assisting Philip.

It’s a novel approach to the fish-out-of-water story, avoiding falling into cliches or copying works like Lost in Translation. The different scenarios almost make the film play like a series of interludes, while serving a wider narrative about assimilation, cultural differences and family, offering him context on his own life and the nature of the relationships in it.

The music from Jónsi and Alex Somers wonderfully complements the visuals of the business of the city and the tranquillity of rural moments, showing both a postcard image and a deeper look at Tokyo. There is also a prominent use of David Byrne that works well within the context of the movie, with minimal needle drops elsewhere.

Rental Family is an uplifting, emotional look at a man adrift, reconnecting with the outside world through an unlikely source. It’s a soothing watch, with plenty to admire from its lead performances, visuals and score and looks set to be a crowd pleaser when eventually released. Ultimately life-affirming, it strikes a nice balance between melancholy and comedy without becoming overly saccharine.

Christopher Connor

Rental Family does not have a release date yet.

Read more reviews from our London Film Festival coverage here.

For further information about the event, visit the London Film Festival website here.

Watch the trailer for Rental Family here: