This comedy-drama is about an American actor who decides to work for a Japanese “rental family” agency, which rents out people to play different stand-in roles at their request.
RENTAL FAMILY. Starring: Brendan Fraser, Takehiro Hira, Mari Yamamoto, Shannon Mahina Gorman, and Akira Emoto. Directed by Hikari. Rated M (Coarse language). 110 min.
Review by Peter W Sheehan, Jesuit Media Australia
This subtitled, United Kingdom film is scripted by female Director, Hiraki, and Stephen Blahut, and is an International production involving the United States of America and Japan. It tells the story of Philip Vandarploeug, a lonely American actor (played by Brendan Fraser), who lives in Japan. Philip somewhat reluctantly takes a job with a Japanese family service agency, which rents out people, who perform stand-in roles for needy persons. Specifically, the service supplies actors to fill voids in the lives of those who rent its services.
The film has won awards for Best Director (Hiraki) at two International Film Festivals. Philip Vandarploeug, who is hired by the rental agency, struggles himself for human connection in the roles he plays, and he completely immerses himself in them. Two people that Philip is given to role-play are especially significant for him personally: one is a fading Japanese movie star (Akira Emotional) who is battling Dementia, and the other is the father of a daughter, Mia (Shannon Gorman), a biracial child, who is looking for the confidence to win acceptance in a competitive, Japanese private school – Mia is a 12-year old girl in urgent need of a loving father. Both roles arouse feelings and connections that are relevant to Philip as a caring father in his own life, and both of them are instrumental to viewers’ better understanding of the nature of family dynamics.
This is a film that intentionally and cleverly blurs the boundary line between reality and fantasy. Philip in real life longs to be understood and recognised as a caring person, and he struggles to find better purpose in his own life. The film uses a novel artifice to explore identity, truth and loneliness in the family setting, and it projects its themes humanely. The film finds unusual ways to articulate relationships, and it explores loneliness by examining life through the eyes of people who are actively wanting to change their lives in some way in their search for greater happiness and contentment. This is a tender, honest film about human intimacy, and Brendan Fraser, as lead actor, takes the demanding role of Philip, and rises to the challenge very well. His performance is subtle, gently understated, and insightful.
Peter W. Sheehan, an Associate of Jesuit Media