Rental Family
Based on a real practice in Japan where a company offers professional stand-ins to clients, Rental Family stars Brendan Fraser as a struggling actor living in Japan who is initially hired to be a token white guy for a client setting up their own funeral. Confused, but in need of work, Phillip (Fraser) agrees further roles (most of which are covered in montages while two key roles make up the core of the main story).
Father: Phillip is hired to be the long lost father of a struggling young girl (Shannon Mahina Gorman) providing her with some support and stability as the family works to get her into a prestigious school. While Mia initially doesn't accept him, the two gradually begin to for a bond that her mother (Shino Shinozaki) who insisted Phillip never tell Mia the truth, grows concerned.
Writer: Philip is also hired to play a writer to engage an elderly former actor (Akira Emoto) struggling with early on-set dementia. Here he provides someone for the old man to talk to about his life, and, like with Mia, Philip struggles when more is asked of him leading to personal quandaries of where the fanciful structure of the job ends and where his innate humanity takes over.
The film showcases the highs and lows of the job, as eventually Phillip's decisions lead to hard decisions. We also get Takehiro Hira as the owner of the company and Mari Yamamoto as a co-worker who specializes in being a stand-in for cheating husbands revealing their affairs to their wives.
Although Phillip has lived in Japan for seven years, there are still aspects of the culture than confound him allowing him to be our stand-in as well for the introduction of the idea of rental families which allow for personal connection for those in need. And, because of his size and complexion, we get the obvious visuals of him standing out everywhere he goes not dissimilar to Bill Murray in Lost in Translation.
The film highlights both how easily it would be for an actor to fall too deep into the role and end up in situations with potentially dire consequences. However, while touching on those ideas, writer/director Hikari is far more interested in celebrating the idea of rental families which provide much-needed emotional balm not only to the clients whose lives these actors step into but those who take the roles as their friends, husbands, and fathers. If its conflict is a little too easily resolved, its heart is definitely in the right place while providing a stand-out role for Fraser and a heartwarming story just in time for the holidays.
- Title: Rental Family
- IMDb: link
