Droopy, dopey ‘Rental Family’ manipulates, begs for approval
Searchlight
Like many, I root for Brendan Fraser. He had a rough go in Hollywood (not including his undeserved comeback Oscar for the mediocre “The Whale”), and “School Ties” remains a favorite of mine. It’s great, and he’s great in it. If you haven’t seen it, or haven’t in a while, do so, and discuss.
But, sheesh, Fraser is awful in “Rental Family,” which is also quite terrible. Resembling either a contest winner unprepared for the opportunity or a puppy dog in a person’s body, Fraser simultaneously delivers a bizarre energy and a desperate sweetness to match a film that sanitizes a weird concept and almost completely pursues maximum cuteness. Make a drinking game out of every time director/co-writer Hikari seems to want you to go “Awwwwwwww,” and you’ll enjoy it much more.
Otherwise: At times resembling a misguided mainstreaming of “The Rehearsal,” “Rental Family” observes American actor Phillip (Fraser) as he accepts a role in a Tokyo company where he pretends to be a groom (for a bride who wants to marry a woman and leave the country, unbeknownst to her parents), a father (for a young girl whose mom needs two parents involved for a school application process), a hangout buddy (for a lonely guy who wants to play two-player video games), and a journalist (when a daughter fears her aging actor father feels his legacy is unappreciated). In other words, the company provides sincere emotional support through deception (Phillip’s colleague Aiko, played by Mari Yamamoto, often must play a mistress) with no concern about the ethical issues involved and no awareness of what they might be doing wrong until the white guy alerts them. And even then it’s an awfully slippery slope as to who you’re going to help out here, folks. There’s a very binary presentation of good and bad, acceptable and unacceptable, and a large dismissal of the loneliness and emotional distance required to hire a performer like this.
Of course Fraser’s character didn’t grow up with a father and comments about not knowing how to be one, and of course someone says mush like “Sometimes all we need is someone to look us in the eye and remind us we exist” so someone somewhere can sew that into a pillow. “Rental Family” is used Kleenex, a movie so desperate to be cleansing it doesn’t realize it’s actually ointment, oily and only a mask for scars.
There could be a really interesting movie about this apparently real practice, showcasing the benefits and balancing them with the moral complexities. “Rental Family,” however, is like a high school comedy with a secret bet about companionship and then everyone falls in love anyway, the ends always justifying the means and everything else shrugged off. People will definitely watch this on planes. Instead consider a nap, or watching almost anything else.
D
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