Stephanie Merry, Washington Post, sums up Family Rental, starring Brendan Fraser and directed by Hikari: “The arc of the film seems clear; we’re about to witness people rediscovering the importance of human connection. Grab the tissues!”
As we used to say about movies pre-streaming, this one’s a rental. (See the pun there?)
I did see it in the theater, however, and it’s not that I regret it, it’s just that there’s a certain superficiality to this film that lends itself better to one’s living room.
The Plot
Phillip (Fraser) is an actor residing in Japan. He needs work. The owner of a “rental family” agency (Takehiro Hira) wants him to try it out. As The Japan Times explains, this type of service actually exists:”…(A)ctors for hire pose as friends or family. On the benign end of the spectrum, a rental person lines up with the client for a cute cafe, or fills a seat at a wedding; on the more dramatic end, she stands in as the client’s bride, clasping his hands before tearful parents.”
When Phillip wonders aloud if therapy wouldn’t be a better solution than clients paying for pretend relationships, it’s clarified that Japanese culture isn’t so accepting of mental health services.
He takes the gig—and at first it seems doable, helpful, rewarding.
Cue…
The Trailer
Boundary Issues
“…Sometimes it’s okay to pretend.”
Or is it? A couple of the worst outcomes are hinted at above. Playing with the emotions of a child who needs a daddy? An elderly man who slowly trusts you now with end-of-life dreams he can’t fulfill on his own?
In sum, Phillip’s quandaries become about boundary-setting—and he’s too new at this and ill-trained to stop himself from over-involvement: a parallel, in my mind’s world, to therapists who break boundaries because of inexperience, poor education about this issue, or unenlightenment about themselves and their choices. With proper supervision and improved knowledge of guidelines, however, most can do better.
By the way, it’s not just Phillip; the boss and other employees at the rental agency have things to learn too.
Selected (Mixed) Reviews of Rental Family
Tim Grierson, AVClub: “…(I)t becomes a foregone conclusion that all the correct lessons will be learned and all the right messages will be communicated.”
Jocelyn Noveck, APNews: “The broader message may simply be that genuine connection, that holy grail we all crave, can sometimes be found in the oddest of places — even in a bizarre no man’s land between fake relationships and real ones.”
Peter Debruge, Variety: “A movie like ‘Rental Family’ lives or dies by its tone, and the one Hikari strikes is reflected in the concerned creases of Fraser’s forehead: It’s maudlin and unconvincing, means well but isn’t above manipulating us for the desired emotional outcome.”
Barry Hertz, Globe and Mail: “This is a movie so tiny and inoffensive that it immediately evaporates from memory.”
Peter Travers: “Brendan Fraser excels as a failed American actor adrift in Japan. Is his film a shameless soap opera or a far flintier look at human frailty? It’s more like both.”
