Michael's Movie Grade: A-
A lovely and moving dramedy.
In this movie an American actor living in Japan gets a job where he fulfils roles missing in client's lives. When he plays the missing father in a young girl's life, he becomes too emotionally attached.
This is a truly heartfelt and moving film. In lesser hands this could be overly shmaltzy and cloying. However, in the masterful hands of director/writer Hikari and actor Brendan Fraiser, ever moment feels completely sincere. It is this sincerity that makes this movie truly special. I expected to enjoy this movie coming in but I was surprised by just how much this pulled on my heartstrings. I found myself deeply moved by this film and left the theater with a greater appreciation of my life and the friends and family I get to share it with. Every character here is very well defined and I felt an emotional connection to all of them. There were times when my heart broke for them and other times when I felt great joy for them. One thing they never felt like to me were characters in a movie. I felt like I was looking at real people through a window that showed into their lives.
Of course, I can't talk about this film without talking about the performance of Brendan Fraiser. I really love the current stage of his career that he is in. He is leaning into more mature and challenging roles, where he gets to show how great of an actor, he actually is. There was a time when people made fun of him as an actor (though I have always like him a lot), and now those people can directly see just how wrong they are.
What a great movie.
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