Philip

Quarterbacks Drew Brees and Philip Rivers, along with wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald, tight end Jason Witten and running back Frank Gore made it to the semifinal stage in their first year of eligibility for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

The five newcomers are among the 26 modern era candidates who advanced to this stage in voting conducted by the full 50-member selection committee for the class of 2026.

The selection committee will next reduce the list to 15 finalists, who will be voted on before the Super Bowl in February.

Four players have already guaranteed themselves spots in the final 15 after making it down to the final seven players in the 2025 class, with Willie Anderson, Torry Holt, Luke Kuechly and Adam Vinatieri taking those spots.

The other returning finalists are Eli Manning, Fred Taylor, Steve Smith Sr., Reggie Wayne, Jahri Evans, Marshall Yanda, Terrell Suggs and Darren Woodson.

Offensive lineman Lomas Brown and defensive lineman Kevin Williams were the other two candidates who reached the semifinal stage for the first time. The other semifinalists are Hines Ward, Richmond Webb, Steve Wisniewski, Rodney Harrison, Earl Thomas, Vince Wilfork and Robert Mathis.

In addition to the 15 modern era finalists, the selection committee will consider three seniors, one coach and one contributor for the class of 2026. Between four and eight new members will be elected in the second year of this current format.

Only four people got in last year for the smallest class in 20 years.

Brees and Fitzgerald are the top new candidates this year.

Brees is second all time to Tom Brady with 80,358 yards passing and 571 touchdown passes. He spent the first five seasons of his career with the San Diego Chargers before signing as a free agent with the Saints in 2006, where his career took off as he helped lift a city still recovering from Hurricane Katrina.

Brees delivered to New Orleans its first Super Bowl title following the 2009 season, when he won MVP of the game after beating Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts. Brees made the Pro Bowl 13 times in his career, won AP Offensive Player of the Year in 2008 and 2011, was an All-Pro in 2006 and was a second-team All-Pro four times.

Fitzgerald spent his entire career with the Arizona Cardinals after being drafted third overall in 2004. His 1,432 catches and 17,492 yards receiving in 17 seasons rank second all time to Jerry Rice.

Fitzgerald topped 1,000 yards receiving nine times — tied for the fourth most ever — and helped the Cardinals reach their only Super Bowl following the 2008 season. Fitzgerald set single-season records that postseason with 546 yards receiving and seven touchdown catches, including a go-ahead 64-yard score with 2:37 to play in the Super Bowl before Pittsburgh rallied for a 27-23 win over Arizona.

Rivers ranks seventh all time with 63,440 yards passing in a career spent mostly with the Chargers. He made eight Pro Bowls and won the 2013 AP Comeback Player of the Year.

Witten was one of the most prolific tight ends ever with his 1,228 catches and 13,046 yards ranking second best all time. Witten was a two-time All-Pro for Dallas and was a second-team All-Pro two other times.

Gore ranks third all time with 16,000 yards rushing with nine 1,000-yard seasons and five Pro Bowl honors.

Kuechly’s career was brief but impactful. The first-round pick by Carolina in 2012 was an All-Pro five times, with seven Pro Bowl nods and a Defensive Rookie of the Year award.

Over his eight-year career, Kuechly led all linebackers in the NFL in tackles (1,090), takeaways (26), interceptions (18) and passes defensed (66).

Vinatieri was one of the most clutch kickers in NFL history, making the game-winning field goals in the first two Super Bowl victories during New England’s dynasty.

He helped launch the run with one of the game’s greatest kicks — a 45-yarder in the snow to force overtime in the “Tuck Rule” game against the Raiders in the 2001 divisional round. He made the game-winning kick in overtime to win that game and then hit a 48-yarder on the final play of a 20-17 win in the Super Bowl against the Rams.

Vinatieri is the NFL’s career leader in points (2,673) and made field goals (599) over a 24-year career with New England and Indianapolis. He also leads all players with 56 field goals and 238 points in the postseason.

Holt was a key part of the Rams’ “Greatest Show on Turf,” helping the team win the Super Bowl in his rookie season in 1999 and getting back there two years later. Holt led the NFL in yards receiving in 2000 and in catches and yards in 2003 when he made his only All-Pro team.

Holt finished his career with 920 catches for 13,382 yards and 74 touchdowns.

Anderson was considered one of the top right tackles in his era after being a first-round pick by Cincinnati in 1996. He spent nearly his entire career with the Bengals and made three straight All-Pro teams from 2004-06.

Dubow writes for the Associated Press.

Directed by Japan’s monomonikered Hikari, “Rental Family” — a beautifully moving and affably humorous story of human connection — kicks off with one funeral and culminates with another, demonstrating the evolution that our protagonist, Philip (Brendan Fraser), goes through during his personal journey between these two events.

The first funeral is a shock. Philip is a struggling actor in Tokyo, with one massively successful commercial as a toothpaste superhero mascot under his belt. His agent has booked him a gig as “Sad American,” a role he can easily play with his looming height, doleful eyes and a heart he wears on his sleeve. Late as usual, he dashes to check in for work and is shocked to stumble into a somber funeral. He’s even more shocked when the formally dressed corpse starts emotionally reacting to the tearful eulogies.

The scene is a marvel of revelation and reaction from Fraser and, in fact, much of the genius of his performance in “Rental Family” comes from his reactions, especially as he discovers the weird and wonderful new job he’s landed.

In the screenplay by Hikari and Stephen Blahut, Philip finds himself working for Tada (Takehiro Hira), who runs a company called Rental Family that’s hired by clients to provide staff to role-play in various real-world scenarios — the fake funeral, for example, or as a mistress apologizing to a spurned wife or just for friendship. Philip’s first role is quite complex: He plays a Canadian man getting married to a young Japanese woman in a show wedding for her conservative parents. She’s queer and needs an out in order to be with her real partner. Philip, who is earnest and honest to a fault, chafes at the lie but soon realizes that he’s helping someone to live their authentic life, so he throws himself into it.

Rental Family’s service is all about maintaining Japanese values of propriety and politeness through performance, and the little (or big) white lies are manipulations to get what the clients want: an apology, companionship, love, admiration, closure. Philip’s most challenging high-wire act proves to be posing as the long-lost American father of a shrewd and emotionally intelligent young girl, Mia (Shannon Mahina Gorman), in order to secure her school admission. Both Philip and Mia’s mom (Shino Shinozaki), the client, soon realize that it’s much more complicated than just pretending to be a nuclear family for a school interview.

While playing daddy, Philip also juggles a role as a curious journalist profiling an aging, iconic (but largely forgotten) screen actor, Kikuo (Akira Emoto), from whom he learns surprising lessons about life, memory and legacy. He finds himself deeply connecting with these people, young and old, and learning from them, while becoming tangled in their lives.

Empathy pours off Fraser in waves, which is what made his Oscar-winning performance in “The Whale” work. Hikari channels that quality to good use in “Rental Family” but never oversteps. The film is sweet and affecting, never treacly or overly sentimental. She knows how to balance humor and poignancy, to allow Philip to be a grown man with his own needs and peccadilloes and mistakes, though we never question his motivations because of the inherent goodness that radiates off Fraser.

Hikari’s naturalistic style perfectly suits this story. The Tokyo that she showcases is one of quotidian everyday life, not the futuristic neon city that an outsider might capture. Hers is one of small, cramped apartments, karaoke bars, public transit, hotels, temples and schools. It’s a world occupied by normal people who sometimes need a little help, a little push to get the things they want in life. Philip is there to provide that service even though he’s also in need of his own connection to others.

But it’s the mishaps along the way that actually help Philip to grow. By the time we get to the second funeral, we see how much he has bloomed. Fraser has an openness to his expression that’s like a flower unfolding, beaming in the sunlight of recognition and personal fulfillment. As an actor, Fraser’s second act has been a sight to behold. He’s the emotional anchor of this life-affirming and quietly resonant film about the importance of being together — a movie that announces Hikari as a major talent.

Walsh is a Tribune News Service film critic.