Going To The Movies This Past Tuesday - Rental Family

 I do not know why it has taken me this long to write what is really a rather simple post. This morning I put it down to ADHD or a lack of discipline or old-fashioned laziness.

So, I went to see Rental Family on Tuesday afternoon. I had seen the preview when I went last time to the theater, and there had been a trailer on YouTube. Brendan Fraser still carrying some of the weight from The Whale in Japan looked interesting enough. It could be that I think Fraser is a better actor than he generally gets credit for being. There has always been a bit of goofiness and vulnerability in a body that could have belonged to an action hero. Then, too, the first time I noticed him was in Gods and Monsters - where I also first noticed Ian McKellan (or was that his Richard III)?

The parking lot where the bus dropped me off - another gray Indiana day. The movie theater off by itself. Finally, the corn field to the north of the parking lot and theater - yes, we have farms within our city limits.

 I made tracks to see Rental Family because Tuesday was its last day in Muncie. There were maybe six people in the theater - it was the second matinée - who all looked at least my age. I had the feeling there was not much publicity for this movie. My take is that it was a Japanese movie with some American flavors. Spare, clean images and a story immersed in Japanese culture; leavened by a sense that fakery may not be the best solution to our emotional troubles. I got an idea that our American individualism (idealism?) requires a certain integrity. Japanese rules get broken by the influence of the American emotional bonding. The company providing rental families continues with changes. There is also one great scene, a shocker, that does involve Fraser. No violence, no sex, no superheroes, no explosions, just a lesson on empathy and the benefits of emotional attachment. The first time in decades I can say I saw a PG-13 movie that did not seem trite, that was actually worth seeing.

I needed some supplies, so I got myself to the Payless on McGalliard. While waiting for the bus, I took a few more photos.

 Pre=Thanksgiving madness.

And then I went home.

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