Review: Rental Family

Fraser plays a token white guy trying to help Japanese people

An unemployed American actor in Tokyo is desperate for work and stumbles on an opportunity -- to play the part his client is paying him for -- a journalist, a second gamer, a groom, a father.

That's the premise of Rental Family, starring Brendan Fraser as Phillip Vanderploeg as the aforementioned gaijin, or foreigner in Japanese. It seems the part is made for him until you see that he executive produced the comedy-drama, which is not particularly hilarious, but sweet at times during the 110 minutes.

Phillip connects with an actor with dementia

At first Phillip is confounded with the idea of playing a character in real life, but his boss Shinji (Takehiro Hira) says this is what clients want, to be seen, or he is a means to an end. 

In the case of single mother Hitomi (Shino Shinozaki), she needs a "token white guy" to be the father of Mia (a very cute Shannon Mahina Gorman) so that she can get into a prestigious school, and for adult daughter Masami, Phillip is a journalist to jog her father Kikuo's memories, a famous elderly actor (Akira Emoto) with dementia.

Being told her father disappeared, Mia is angry when she first meets Phillip, but soon she grows attached to him and draws him pictures; he feels hey, this is a job I can do. The same could be said with his relationship with Kikuo, who feels comfortable around the American, even though he doesn't act like a journalist taking notes or recording interviews.

However, Phillip's initial reluctance becomes real when the situations he's in become more complicated, or don't go according to plan, and that's when Shinji tells him to cut the cord and extract himself from the client.

Phillip plays a dad to 11-year-old Mia

But is is that easy? As Phillip accuses his boss of running a soulless company that claims to help clients make personal connections, but they are really fake.

Most heartwarming was the "jailbreak" that Phillip and Kikuo make to go to the latter's hometown, but viewers can sense what will happen next.

The ending seems to be neatly tied up in a bow, but Rental Family is not meant to be too deep either. Nevertheless it brings up the theme of loneliness and how people yearn connections with others. Fraser is thoughtful in his role and respectful of Japanese culture, even if his character doesn't completely understand it.

Rental Family

Directed and co-written by Hikari

110 minutes