Micro-acting is a thing in Japan. Apparently, it is more and more common for ordinary Japanese people to hire actors for certain roles like Nintendo pal or witness or blame-taker. That last one gets a lot of work. It is not unlike sex work. Are all actors whores on some level? Hard to disagree after seeing a film like this, and yet, don’t be fooled – Rental Family is a deep, emotional piece highlighting a need that goes beyond sex, one that strikes at far more complex emotional interaction.
Phillip Vandarploeug (Brendan Fraser) is a North American actor in Japan. And not a great one, judging by his sparse employment record. He has a line on a potential television serial in Korea. That would change his career, which has so far culminated in him dressing as toothpaste for a commercial. This is the apex of his entire life to date, mind you. One day, Japan’s new and growing micro-acting network finds him. They need someone to play “white guy” at a funeral. “It’s the part I was born to play, baby!” They dock his pay for showing up late and creating a bit of a fuss. And the funeral turns out to be fake. Geez, what exactly is real in this land?
On the way out, Shinji (Takehiro Hira), the owner of a micro-acting agency, flags him down and tells him there’s money to be made in these projects. Phillip is reluctant. Who wouldn’t be? This is a level of acting he hadn’t bargained for. Is it the fact that it is so personal or so small? (Micro-acting comes with micro-paydays.) Hard to tell, but he can’t deny that a paycheck is a paycheck, and immediately garners two extended roles suitable for “white guy.” One is as a freelance reporter interviewing a has-been Japanese director. The director’s daughter hires Phillip to give dad an ego boost.
The latter role is the trickier one: Phillip is hired to play a father to Mia (Shannon Mahina Gorman), a bright 10-year-old mixed race girl. Her mom wants Mia to get into a decent junior high. A father is needed. Phillip is to act the part of the estranged father returning. The entrance exam will go more smoothly if the child believes Phillip is her real father. This is tough, right? Just wait until the kid makes him pinky promise that he will never leave again.
This is what micro-acting roles are: emotional chicanery. One colleague of Phillip’s, a woman, constantly gets hired to play “girl the unfaithful husband slept with.” You see, if the unfaithful guy apologizes and denounces his affair in front of his wife, things go better. Theoretically. Now Phillip is asked to be the long-lost father that Mia has yearned for. He doesn’t know a thing about parenting. Does it matter? Clearly, the real guy didn’t either. Naturally, we are going to see an emotional transformation within both actor and subject.
Yes, we know where this story is going. How could it not? The questions are: is it manipulative/cheap? And how invested will the players get? Real acting takes dedication, knowing a part, playing a character to the exclusion of all else. There’s a lot of
investment in this role and I didn’t find it cheap at all. Chalk up another winner for Brendan Fraser. The last and most important question is: How far would you take a role? Would you take it to the point where it isn’t a role anymore? Could you stop, say, playing a cowboy after spending all month on a dude ranch and actually become a cowboy? Well, this isn’t “cowboy,” it’s fatherhood, and it shouldn’t be faked, by anyone; the consequences are too precarious.
Rental Family is the kind of film that makes you truly believe in the value of acting. The interactions can be empty, and yet there are deep rewards for those willing to sacrifice their own well-being for a fleeting chance of playing a role worth living, even if just for a limited time. Does the limitation make one hesitant? Considering all relationships have an expiration date, I think not. Sometimes a week in a fantasy world can make your entire life worth living. Of course, other times it cannot. And further, sometimes, it can make you long for something not intended for you. It’s impossible to say truly what is correct, but Rental Family is a fantastic exploration of the difference between faux and genuine emotion.
There once was an actor named Phil
Playing a father of his own will
The kid didn’t know
So when her feelings grow
Reality will prove an excessively bitter pill
Rated PG-13, 103 Minutes
Director: Hikari
Writer: Hikari, Stephen Blahut
Genre: Catering for non-foodies
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: People who understand how fragile relationships can be
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: I imagine people who live entirely within reality, never venturing abroad for even the slightest reason
