Rental Family

Brendan Fraser plays a struggling actor living in Japan, who gets hired for an odd gig as a stand-in for various roles in people’s lives. He is someone’s fake husband, fake friend, and gets involved as a fake dad to aid a child with their application to a posh school.

We did a triple header at the cinema and this was the first of the three. This one was billed as a gentle comedy you might take your grandma to see, and in that capacity it works great. However it’s also quieter, less formulaic and more artsy than that, and it was all the better for it.

Perhaps it caught me at a good time but what I would have said was emotional exploitation and try-hard attempts at feel-goodness, instead came off as quite sweet and sincere. Better that than something over-cynical and arch.

It’s a tad over-loaded with storylines but the performances, writing and general vibes won me over.