Normally I would prefer buying a ticket, but this is one Rental I’ll recommend! (CREDIT: Searchlight Pictures/Screenshot)
Starring: Brendan Fraser, Takehiro Hira, Mari Yamamoto, Shannon Mahina Gorman, Akira Emoto, Shino Shinozaki, Kimura Bun, Sei Matobu
Director: Hikari
Running Time: 110 Minutes
Rating: PG-13 for Some Language Here and There
Release Date: November 21, 2025 (Theaters)
Since Rental Family is already out in theaters by the time I’m posting this review, I’ll be quick with my thoughts and then transition into a related matter. This is one of those movies where the trailer spells out the premise pretty much perfectly, as Brendan Fraser plays the delightfully named American actor Phillip Vandarploeug, who’s living in Japan when he’s hired by the titular company to serve as a stand-in for various clients’ friends and family members. His main gigs involve pretending to be the previously absent father of a young biracial girl (the winning Shannon Mahina Gorman) and a journalist/friend hanging out with a retired actor struggling with the onset of dementia (Akira Emoto). I was worried that this premise could lend itself to an overly cloying adventure, but writer/director Hikari and his cast wisely opt for a generally understated approach. Except when they get madcap! That’s right, this movie is surprisingly silly at times, and I have to admit that I expelled some genuine belly laughs. Overall, Rental Family works as well as it does because it has Fraser at its center, and that’s a big reason why I give it a Grade of 3.5 out of 5 Fake Dads.
And now I’ll segue into taking a pulse on the state of the Oscar race, specifically the Lead Actor category. Fraser won that little gold man just a few years ago for The Whale, so we know he’s on the Academy’s radar, or at least he has been in the past. Weirdly enough, though, I haven’t heard his name batted around at all in this year’s Oscars discussion, despite Rental Family being Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes and being distributed by a studio (Searchlight Pictures) with plenty of experience running awards campaigns. Although maybe he does have a chance, and I’m just caught in the prognosticator echo chamber at the moment.
Spanning outward, I’ll throw my weight behind someone else who appears unlikely to get a nom despite totally deserving one, i.e., Liam Neeson in The Naked Gun: he perfectly fulfilled the assignment! A few names I think could be legitimate contenders include Jeremy Allen White for the Springsteen movie, Joel Edgerton for Train Dreams, Dwayne Johnson for The Smashing Machine, Ethan Hawke for Blue Moon, and maybe even Jesse Plemons for Bugonia.
But ultimately I foresee this race coming down to three dudes: one a former winner, one a former nominee but not yet a winner, and one who’s surprisingly never been nominated. That would be Leo D. in One B. After A., Timmy C. in Marty S., and Michael B. J. in the vampire flick I really, really loved. I’ll be pulling for Mr. Jordan’s double-duty performance, but if I’m a betting man, I’m leaning ever so slightly in the DiCaprio direction (especially considering the repeat acting winners we’ve seen recently with Emma Stone and Adrien Brody).
But wouldn’t it be hilarious if everyone just got Fraser’d in the end? Lol!
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