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The last time Brendan Fraser<\/strong> was onscreen, he turned in an Oscar-winning performance, and judging by early reviews of Rental Family, he could be back in the awards conversation<\/a>. In director Hikari’<\/strong>s Rental Family, Fraser plays a struggling American actor living in Japan, who gets hired for stand-in roles in people’s lives \u2014\u00a0but he inevitably finds it hard to separate his professional duties from his personal feelings. The film, which recently debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival, has critics tugging on their heartstrings (some more than others, naturally) \u2014 and currently has a 95 percent “fresh” score on Rotten Tomatoes<\/a>, though just 68 “generally favorable” on Metacritic<\/a>.<\/p>\n “Hikari\u2019s\u00a0Rental Family\u00a0<\/strong>may just be the most gentle, human film you\u2019ll see all year,” raves Screen Rant’s Mae Abdulbaki<\/strong><\/a>. “It\u2019s the kind of film we need more of, as it captures the people\u2019s loneliness and need for connection \u2014 with family, friends, and even strangers \u2014 with a tenderness that I haven\u2019t seen in a while. … It\u2019s evocative and rich, tackling complex emotions and relationships with a delicacy that may just have you tearing up.” She goes on to praise Fraser’s “stunning” turn.<\/p>\n More from Gold Derby<\/strong><\/p>\n The Hollywood Reporter<\/a>‘s Frank Scheck<\/strong>, among others, singles out Fraser’s performance. “Fraser, who previously exploited his toned physique to terrific comic effect in\u00a0George of the\u00a0Jungle\u00a0and other early films, now uses his comparative bulk with moving results,” he writes. “Lumbering through Tokyo and looming over the Japanese figures with whom he comes into contact, he makes you feel his character\u2019s otherness both physically and emotionally. His superbly nuanced and expressive performance proves key to the film\u2019s power.”<\/p>\n IndieWire’s David Ehrlich<\/strong> <\/a>says the film is “sweet and twinkly,” giving it an overall grade of B-. “Hikari may be too straightforward a storyteller to indulge in any explicitly self-reflexive shenanigans, but there\u2019s something to be said for emotional manipulation in the context of a movie that celebrates the fact that feelings \u2014 and relationships \u2014\u00a0can be as real as the belief that we invest in them, even if only for a while.”<\/p>\n Several reviewers branded the film with the “manipulative” label. “A movie like Rental Family lives or dies by its tone,” says Variety’s Peter Debruge<\/strong><\/a>, “and the one Hikari strikes is reflected in the concerned creases of Fraser\u2019s forehead: It\u2019s maudlin and unconvincing, means well but isn\u2019t above manipulating us for the desired emotional outcome.”<\/p>\n Slant’s Alexander Mooney<\/strong> is far less charmed by the film’s premise, calling it a “grotesque dramedy.” “Rental Family\u00a0is a grueling schlep toward its climactic stretch, in which the film ties off every loose end and stoops to mawkish feel-goodery of the highest order, sanding off the roughest, darkest edges of its conceptual hook and sweeping them under the rug.”<\/p>\n Rental Family will be released in theaters on Nov. 21.<\/p>\n Best of Gold Derby<\/strong><\/p>\n Sign up for Gold Derby’s Newsletter<\/a>. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook<\/a>, Twitter<\/a>, and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n