Since his Oscar-winning performance in The Whale (2022), Brendan Fraser continues his mid-career renaissance, this time returning to his comedic roots in a fabulously sweet and wholesome story by sophomore director Hikari.
Rental Family
Starring Brendan Fraser, Takehiro Hira, Mari Yamamoto, Shannon Mahina Gorman, and Akira Emoto.
Directed by Hikari
Runtime: 1 hour, 50 minutes
Synopsis
While out-of-work actor Phillip (Fraser) awaits a bigger acting break, his agent books him gigs with the Family Rental service run by Shinji (Hira), which requires him to play various roles for their clients. The roles are anything but simple, as he plays an estranged husband, a movie reporter, and even a groom-to-be for clients comfortable bending the truth or outright lying to preserve something they desperately need. As Phillip grows closer to each client he works with, however, his ability to keep bending the truth comes to a breaking point.
A Sweet Movie
When talking with one of my good friends, giving them a recommendation to see this film, one word that came to mind was sweet. I love a sweet movie, one that has a satisfying conclusion, one that treats its characters with warmth and sincerity without being mean towards them. That doesn’t mean the characters are necessarily stagnant like some sitcom structures would do: they still recoil when they feel pain, they have ups and downs in the narrative, may lose out on something that they dearly wanted. But ultimately, the movie’s focus trends more positive, it’s cheering them on towards a satisfying conclusion or catharsis.
Sometimes, though, sweet movies are critiqued as being unrealistic.
There’s Nancy Meyer for example; I would routinely describe her films as sweet in this way, but sometimes they get bashed by online commentators and writers for this sweetness or lack of realism.
Let’s take one Meyer’s project from a few years back that I find myself rewatching whenever I need a pick-me-up: The Intern (2015). Starring Robert DeNiro as Ben, a retired executive who accepts a “senior” intern position with a designer fashion company created by Anne Hathaway’s Jules, the movie has ups and downs for each character as Ben deals with the death of his wife and Jules struggles to balance her work and family life. Initially, Ben and Jules butt heads generationally, but they eventually figure out how to work well together, leaning on each other’s different life experiences, which ultimately proves invaluable when Jules faces a crossroads with her husband. Just because the film doesn’t engage in high-stakes, dramatic theatrics and prefers to stay in a cozier atmosphere doesn’t devalue its importance or reality.
Regarding those “sweet” critiques, I believe respectfully, they say more about the commentator than they do about the film in question. It can be refreshing to jump into a positive narrative that wishes well towards its character, that isn’t actively out to get them – which is where Meyer thrives in her work and what makes Hikari’s Rental work so well. It lives in a similar level of conflict and hopefulness, where you believe the group of characters, despite whatever issues they may be causing to themselves or the people around them, will eventually work out in a cathartic manner.
Real-Life Parallels
Casting Brendan Fraser in this role is certainly on the nose, but there’s nothing wrong with that. Having very public acting struggles and failures in this cutthroat industry likely gave Fraser plenty of personal experience to tap into. When Phillip is acting in various commercials and running around town from audition to audition, Fraser was able to give a dignified air to the proceedings, despite how sad or downtrodden the reality was. Rental could have easily turned into an exercise on the bleak existence some actors live out and stayed there for the entire runtime. Fraser’s performance steers us from that trajectory, keeping moments from feeling utterly depressing, helping the overall story stay positive and hopeful as we eventually tread into heavier feelings and complicated friendships.
An Agency of Lies
At the core of the movie, we are asked whether it’s good to lie, as Shinji’s company Family Rental attempts to satisfy the needs of their various clients. From Shinji’s perspective, the client’s need or desire to believe the lie is more important than the ethics of lying. Phillip is uneasy with this idea at first, nearly bailing from his first job as a pretend groom, but starts to come around when he sees how it helps people. Eventually, it becomes less about the lying, as Phillip learns there are better ways to help people, putting him at odds with Shinji and other company employees. This difference between Shinji and Phillip’s job approach means that, as unfortunate bystanders learn the truth surrounding their roles, the outcomes don’t simply play out like major Hollywood-style blowups. Some may rationalize the lie and want to keep going, whereas others have the reasonable blowup you would expect from the premise. This coincidentally will have you rooting and booing Phillip’s modified approach, even though he’s technically still lying, because of the positive and negative effects his roles have on people.
Shoutout to Emoto
With the recent passing of Japanese stalwart actor Tatsuya Nakadai, it seems only right to take a second and make sure we highlight another acting veteran in Akira Emoto. If you only watch U.S. domestic films or international hits that crossover, you’ve probably never heard of him; most of his films are only Japanese-market hits. Emoto has been one of the best supporting, wide-ranging character actors in Japanese cinematic history. He has a knack for bringing the right energy in his short bursts, knocking his roles out of the park. Rental is a great case of this; while he is an integral part of the final act, his actual screen time is comparably short. However, he makes great use of his scenes opposite Fraser, building a solid friendship that makes you invested in his goal to return to his hometown. I don’t want to spoil the reason why, but this trip allows Emoto to explore a great range of emotion, pulling some great expressions and reactions from Fraser along the way.
New Family Member
Shannon Mahina Gorman makes her feature debut in Rental, and like Emoto, her time is brief due to the multiple threads (Phillip’s different acting jobs). However, like Emoto, her performance opposite of Fraser is equally impressive. For a young actress, Gorman is able to express just enough emotion in her frustration with the estranged father figure Phillip plays, later turning that towards appreciation, confusion, and anger as everything plays out. Being able to pull off that type of range early bodes well for any future roles that Gorman pursues.
Conclusion / Recommendation
Japanese director Hikari’s sophomore follow-up to 37 Seconds (2019) blends the best of Brendan Fraser’s dramatic and comedic sensibilities into a charming and memorable tearjerker. Even if some moments are predictable melodrama, when the direction and momentum are this positive, you won’t care for a moment.
Rental Family is available for streaming on Hulu, perfect for a family viewing session or a night at home.
Score: 9 out of 10
- A Motley Family- 9
- Rental excels with its lead, but also its supporting characters, each living out their own fantasies or trying to help others achieve their own.
- Real-Life Struggles- 9
- Brendan Fraser’s real-life acting struggles may be on the nose for casting in this film, but ultimately works well and helps sell what his character deals with.
- Not A Mean Bone In Their Body- 9
- Rental could have easily been darker, more pessimistic towards every person enlisting the agency’s help, but the focus on positivity was the right choice to showcase the company’s flaws and help our protagonists grow.
Check Us Out On Patreon
Love Nerd Union? Consider supporting us over on Patreon. You’ll get access to early access articles, commercial-free video essays, online discussions and more. Plus, you will be directly responsible for supporting journalism in a field that’s currently being overwhelmed by clickbait focused sites. Supporting us keeps the lights on but it also sets a standard to sites in our field about fair wage practices, citing sources, debunking unconfirmed sources, and helps us investigate stories better.
About Author
