Rent-a-Cat (DVD) (English Subtitled) (Japan Version) DVD Region 2

Instead of writing a singular story, Ogigami simply builds a series of vignettes involving Sayoko (Ichikawa Mikako), a lonely woman who runs a cat rental business and lives alone in a house filled with cats. Ogigami intentionally makes Sayoko an enigmatic character as we see her present different versions of herself to each of her clients. The basic traits of her character are consistent (she has cats, and she's lonely), but we come out of the film knowing more about Sayoko's clients – from an old widow to a white-collar worker who left his family behind to work in the city – than Sayoko herself. As a quirky examination of loneliness in the big city, Ogigami's approach is surprisingly effective without being heavy-handed.

But of course, you're not watching Rent-A-Cat for the humans. Ogigami knows the cats are the stars of the show, and she serves her audiences' needs with many close-ups of Sayoko's feline co-stars. Rent-A-Cat is a textbook case of positive reinforcement, repeatedly showing human-cat interactions that are so cute that it may change the mind of any cat cynic.

Ogigami has made a rare film that succeeds purely on its charms. Rent-a-Cat lacks the exotic locations, the mouth-watering shots of food and the memorably quirky characters that made Seagull Diner and Glasses such huge successes. Instead, it is all about being cute and more importantly, having a great multi-species cast. Rent-A-Cat has plenty of flaws as a film, but I doubt anyone will find a more adorable motion picture in 2012. I won't be renting a cat from Sayoko anytime soon, but I wouldn't hesitate to say hi if I ever pass by her cart in Tokyo.