We dive deep into Rental Family, a quietly powerful drama starring Brendan Fraser, exploring loneliness, human connection, and the emotional cost of “renting” relationships. In this episode, we break down the film’s themes, standout performances, and the moral gray areas behind surrogate families, while reflecting on how the story resonates in our own lives.
In this episode, we sit down to discuss Rental Family, a deeply emotional and thought-provoking film that explores loneliness, identity, and the human need for connection. Through Brendan Fraser’s vulnerable performance as a struggling actor in Japan, the film introduces us to the world of “rental families”—a service where people hire others to play roles in their lives.
We unpack how the film uses this unique premise to examine real-world issues like mental health, grief, and emotional isolation. From the start, we’re struck by how universal the film feels—despite its specific cultural setting—highlighting that loneliness is something we all experience, no matter where we are.
As we go deeper, we explore the ethical dilemmas at the heart of the story. Is it healing to temporarily fill emotional voids, or does it ultimately cause more harm? The film doesn’t give easy answers, and that’s what makes it so compelling. We talk about the blurred lines between performance and reality, especially as Fraser’s character begins forming genuine bonds with the people he’s hired to “pretend” with.
One of the most powerful aspects we highlight is the theme of found family. What starts as transactional relationships evolves into something real, showing how connection can grow in even the most unconventional circumstances.
We also spend time discussing key emotional moments, including the relationship with the young girl Mia, the moral weight of deception, and how unresolved grief and personal trauma shape the characters’ choices. These moments hit hard becaa relationshipuse they feel honest—and because they force us to ask ourselves what we would do in similar situations.
Beyond the story, we give major props to the film’s direction, cinematography, and tone. The movie balances heartbreak with warmth, never feeling manipulative, and instead earns its emotional beats through sincerity and grounded performances.
As always, we bring our own experiences into the conversation, opening up about vulnerability, friendship, and why having honest conversations about mental health matters. This episode becomes more than just a movie review—it turns into a reflection on connection, honesty, and the importance of showing up for each other.
If you’re into character-driven dramas, Brendan Fraser’s recent work, or films that tackle real emotional issues in a meaningful way, this is a discussion you don’t want to miss.
👉 Be sure to like, comment, and subscribe to stay updated on future episodes!
Welcome to the Never Seen Podcast, The only podcast called Never Seen It That's worth listening to with us tonight.
Mr. Arnie, The One Man Party is here with us tonight.
Mr. Daily Dares, aka.
Filipino Grigio, aka.
Alex Kaleo, the Brothers Ko, Mr. Donnie
Applesee, aka Donnie Guzman, the Cousins
Guzman, Mr. Ghostnerd 88, aka.
Justin Holding is with us, and Milkman America.
And that Denver girl, A. Amber White is here tonight, and then there's me.
Boots Too Big.
K. Adrian.
And tonight, we're discussing the 2025 rental family.
This girl needs her father.
Hi, Mia.
I'm your father.
I'm your father
starring Brendan Fraser, an American actor in Tokyo
struggles to find purpose until he lands an unusual gig, working
for a Japanese rental family agency. playinging stand-in roles
for strangers as he immerses himself in his client's hold,
he begins to form genuine bonds that blur the lines between performance and reality.
And I believe this movie was chosen by Mr. Milkman America Chris.
Why did you chooseal family?
This
I am a sucker for Brendan Faser film,
so first and foremost, this man is special.
And the fact that we get this guy in another
leading role apart from the whale, I feel like
this is just a wonderful look into a very
real thing, I found out about rental families in Japan.
I, for one, love that we're in this Brendan Fraserier Renaissance, a Benaissance, if you will.
What would you say?
I mean, obviously, this is such a different role from the whale and everything else he's done.
Does the man have range, Chris?
What do you think?
Is he he a range master?
The man only knows range
They're going to get lost in Brendan Fraser's range.
I feel like, yes, he himself is just an absolute gem.
And I feel like you can throw any role at him and he'd be able
to do it his way and it'd be uniquely his role and he'd be able to do it like earnestly.
But more so than that, I got hooked into this movie through Brendan Fraaser.
but the supporting cast and the director and everything else
about it really kind of like sucks you all the way in.
And you're kind of like enveloped in this like really interesting story all of a sudden sudden.
And looking at some really like deep topics
relatively quickly, which was kind of like a surprising, nice little thing.
But I mean, if you watch the whale, if you've watched it, that was a very emotional movie.
And I would say this is just like a different flavor of a very
emotionally deep movie.
He has a very sort of subtle vulnerability to him.
Brendan Frazier does.
Like, he doesn't overact at all in that., but there's
a very subtle vulnerability to him that really makes the character, don't you think?
Absolutely.
It feels real.
I think that's, you forget that there's actual acting
going on, which is ironic because he's plays an actor in this film.
And he plays, he does it so well that at
points, like you just completely forget that this is Brendan Frazier acting
and you're just, you feel so invested in in this, I guess, work family.
Yeah, definitely
Chris, you mentioned that you heard that this is a real thing in real life.
What did you learn about that?
I learned that there is something like 300
different agencies in Japan that actually operate.
a rental family service, of various forms, right?
So
it's very much alive and well, and this is not like a one-off thing.
This is like part of the culture there as far as,
as far as how popular it is, I don't, I can't speak to that.
But the fact that there's that many agencies and you
can legitimately rent out family members is a pretty interesting.
Yeah.
Donnie, you wanted to say something?
Yeah, I mean, it's not a new thing for their culture, right?
It's been around since the 80s.
It's only second to another service that Japan offers, which is a cuddling service.
I thought that was kind of interesting.
Oh, nice.
I've heard about the cuddling service.
I feel like that's just a loophole for, you know, um,
but whatever, I think it's actually cuddling.
You think they're just cuddling?
Yeah, yeah.
Just cunted cuddling.
Yeah.
Okay.
No, I've heard of the cuddling service.
Yeah.
Yeah, me too.
Yeah, I've also heard of an escort service, but it doesn't change what I'm getting at, you know what I'm saying?
I'll confirm it a couple bits.
I'll let you.
You pay for the extra if you're going to go do more.
Oh, I see, I see.
That's usually a separate service, though.
That's the thing.
Theionship is free.
The companionship costs money.
The sex is free.
I mean, that's the thing's, you know, you got made cafes because
you go to make cafes because people get lonely and they want to talk to women.
You know, that's that's their job to talk women talk to women.
And when we go to Japan, Amber is going to be renting Spider-Man.
Hold on.
Question for the group, and I'll start with you, Alex.
Why don't we have that here?
I don't we have that here?
Because we have doctors who deal with mental health and stuff like that.
In Japan, they they talk about it in the film.
It's stigmatized in Japan.
They don't talk about their feelings and, you know, they don't go see a doctor.
you know?
And so they sweep everything under the rug.
I mean, that's like with a lot of Asian countries, like that's just a generalized thing.
You know, we've talked about this ad nauseum in like
so many different discussions that when it comes to like
Asian, you know, culture.
You know, you talk about like rosemead.
Rosemead is a primary example of like
even in America, Asians don't talk about their feelings, you know?
So, like, why not have some sort of replacement?
Like, imagine if Rosemead, you were able to hire
a dad, you know, and be like, hey, this is how I'm feeling.
You want to talk to your dad.
You know?
that's kind of think about it, you know, that's kind of similar to
the services that they would have probably offer in Japan.
That's a good point.
And he even says it in the beginning, right?
Brenan Frazaser, when he's talking to the guy, he's like, why don't they just go to therapy?
And he's like, because that's stigmatized in Japan.
To your point, that's very much spun on.
Chris, I had a quick follow-up for you, though.
Someone who's done improv a little bit of acting in the past, could you see yourself doing this?
Could you be rented out, Chris, in the position?
Are you up for rental because I got my credit card ready.
I mean, what's her?
are we talking about?
Because I can for sure be rented out.
Could you be a Name the prize.
Make it sure it's right.
Could you be a platonic companion?
A guy comes back from the dead, a long lost father, figure.
What do you think?
I think, so what I what I personally enjoyed about
this exploration into,
Brendan Fraser's character. becoming
aware of this and how he handles his first interaction of
actually being active in the rental family service.
And you see him hiding in the bathroom stall.
I get very much see myself being like, yeah, I can totally be rented out.
And then like it comes to like my wedding day and I'm like,
I don't know.
I'm lying to people.
Like, oh, is this actually helping?
And I I would have to say, I probably not.
I think I could like do it, but I don't know if I could
like willingly do it on repeat for a job.
That was such a wholesome scene though, wasn't it?
When he does the marriage at the beginning.
Like
you really get this sense of like, I don't know, Brendan Frrazier has this
charm to him that I can't quite put into words.
Like he was like so happy for her, genuinely happy for her.
And then he saw that I guess she was with another, she
was a lesbian with another woman like that you know, he was like, oh, and then he's like, oh, I'll'll of you guys alone.
And then, I don't know, just that whole scene felt really
I felt really special.
I think it was crazy because he was, he's so, like,
I don't know if he's really like this or it's just the character, but the character for
sure was so like respectful of people's boundariesaries.
And then like the job was like challenging him to like not respect certain
people's boundaries, but while also kind of respecting others, that was interesting
Yeah, do we have any insight on how that's works in real life?
Because you have to draw some boundaries somewhere.
Like, did anybody read up on that at all?
No.
Yeah, that's fine.
We'll have a research department and look into it.
Brendan Fraser is just like his eyes,
like just emot. sadness.
Like they already like almost shrink wrap in like tears and they're ready to go.
That's so true.
Yeah.
He didn't have that before.
I don't know that he had that in Georgia the Jungle or Dudley Doright or
Mummy movies.
Was he in.
I'm thinking of
a different way.
I was going to say Deadpool Society, but he was nice.
There's Aaronino man.
What was that movie he did with Elizabeth Hurley that I really liked?
bedazzled or something?
Yeah.
Yes, bedazzled.
You're right.azzled.
Oh, man.
But they nailed it.
I Of all the movies, see, I relate to Brendan
Frazier, as far as actors go, Brendan Frzier and Paul Giamatti, I relate to those guys the most.
And when I saw bedazzled, I was like, wow, like I relate to this silly, weird movie so much.
Oh, wait, was bedazzled with Hugh Grant?
No, I was with Brendan Fraser and with.
Okay.
Yes.
Hugh Grant was in two weeks notice with fucking, what's her name?
Sandra Bullock, and he was in nine months and
he's been in a lot of stuff, but he was not in bedazzled. like Do you like you, Grant Arnold?
Is that why you bring it up?
No, I just remember that was one of the few movies
I watched, like when I started watching movies as a teenager.
Nice.
Yeah.
Oh, he's great.
He's not in bedazzled, though, but I feel like because
I already kind of sort of like help people already with
doing the things that I do for community stuff or work or whatever it is.
I feel like I would do it specifically to help other people.
I personally get satisfaction
out of helping others, which
is a, I feel like is is great to a fault
because I also forget about myself a lot.
And maybe I need a rental family of some sort.
I need I need a rental mom and dad.
That's what I actually need
because, I don't know.
I just, I think I would be great at doing
like the rental family stuff, even if it isn't just family.
I think I always wanted to do the Big Brother, big sister thing.
And at the same time, I'm like, man, like, I don't
want to be a, I don't think I can like fully
100% dedicate myself to be a part of this kid's life because then they're going to expect
something more from me.
I don't think I can ever do something like that because
I feel like that's a little bit too too serious of a role.
Yeah.
And you latch onto this person.
And not saying that, you know, I couldn't,
I'm sure I could do a great with that, but I
feel like when you do the Big Brother Big sister thing, that's more or less
like a lifelong commitment thing while a rental family,
it's like this person is feeling a type of way and they need this
thing that they're missing from their own personal life,
whether it's like family, a friends, or whatever.
I feel like I could do that because, because there's
it's a contracted thing and you're like, I'm
here to fill that void in your life for
possibly a temporary amount of time.
I think I can do that.
But like, when it comes to like things like Big Brother, Big sister,
I think that's a little bit too close to home for me.
Just to dive a little deeper, if you don't mind.
I think what you're talking about, though
as far as like the longevity portion, how
do you think you would handle Brendan
Frazer's big ask of doing like that three-w rental family where he's getting attached to
like the daughter.
Like, would you be able to, do you think that you could handle
something like that where you have to lie to an innocent
kid about being someone who's very real to her?
Yeah.
Well, the thing is, is that like, I I
would, I, if it came to that point
and I would have establish me
personally, I would establish, I'm like, okay, you know, I'm not your real
dad or I'm not your real brother or whatever the situation is.
In this case, it was like dad.
I would, I would establish at some point in
time, even probably even earlier, um, into
the process of all of this, I would be like, hey,
you know, I'm not your dad.
I probably won't ever be your dad, but I would
be happy and honored to be your friend.
Like, we can go hang out.
We can go do that things.
And I'm sure that's, that's what will happen with me.
I feel like that is a little bit easier of a segue because
they already have an understanding that
this is like not a real thing.
Now, I know in the movie it got a little bit serious with
them because like it was a lie from the get-go.
Nothing was established with the child.
The The parent didn't even say anything for like the longest time
and the parent had to like pull back and be like, hey, you know, this guy might.
Eventually, before it was too late, you know, she was like, okay, eventually
this guy's not going to be around and we're going to have to, you know, lie.
Don't know about the mom, right?
The mom, the mom.
I thought that was really shitty of her.
Yeah, it was pretty shitty.
She's like, oh, you're texting him
Yeah.
I feel like that's too far.
I feel like when it comes to rental family things, I
think that's one of those cases where it's like, in
the contract, I think both parties need to establish
that this is just a temporary thing.
It's not real
And I think that's where they failed in that part of the movie.
Because that child got attached, this child is young
and they're going to be impressionable by the first person
that they can look up to.
And he was a really nice guy.
I felt like me in that situation, I would establish early on
I would be like, hey, you know, this is, you know, I'm here to hang out with you pretty much.
I'm here to be like your dad.
I'm here to pretend like your dad.
But that's me, though.
That's how I would handle that situation.
But the thing is, is that if an attachment comes
along, then I'm going to treat it as like friend, family type of thing.
I'm not going to I'm I'm not going to deny them that
And I think that's where I differ between, you, me and Brendan
Fraser's character is that I would have I would definitely set my
boundaries early while still performing my duties for this job.
But if a friendship spawns from that,
you know, I'm okay with that because now I have a friend.
Now I have
you know, someone else that I can,
you, go hang out with or take care of.
Or maybe that's something that is a void
in me that simultaneously fills for me.
I'm filling a void for them, but maybe that also,
the reason why I'm doing this in the first place is that that fills a void for me as well.
So, I don't know.
That's me, though.
Yeah.
Donnie, your thoughts?
Yeah.
You know, that's why this thing is so artist service is so controversial, right?
Because if the contract from the get-go, you're hiring an agency and they
tell you that, number one, no emotional attachment, right?
Emotional attachment is prohibited.
And so
that's what makes this thing so crazy is because how do
you put yourself in that situation without getting emotionally attached?
Especially if you put yourself in like Brandon Fier's shoes with the kid, right?
There's just certain things that's going to tug on your heartstrings depending on
where you come from as an individual in your own personal experiences, right?
And so to do something like this
and to separate yourself and not have that emotional attachment is almost impossible.
You know, it's, I think..
No, yeah, that's a good point.
That's why when I first heard about this, I thought, like, not this movie,
but in general, the concept of this rental family thing, it sounds like,
it sounds low-key, not inhumane, but what's the word for it?
Like difficult, maybe?
Yeah, it's a little, it's bordering on that for sure.
Right?
Because it's like that thing, like people will do something like this before they go to therapy.
Like Brendan Frazier says, Alex, your thoughts?
Well, also to Donnie's point, if you
look at the very beginning of the film, they show, there's a scene where he's coming home from
like doing that job.
And then, well, not the job.
It was like the an audition and he doesn't get the role.
He goes, buys his like this probably, probably discounted
sushi from like the kombini store and then goes home.
He's sitting at his window looking out and he's looking at across the way there's that building
and you see all those little apartments
and there's people interacting with each other.
And it alludes to the fact that that he too is looking for a connection.
You know, that's the whole thing too.
And, you know, he's seeking connection and that's why he was so vulnerable and
almost willing to attach himself to these
situations with the people he interacted with at this job.
You know, he like, he wanted to have, like, let's, let's, let's, like, don't get it wrong.
He definitely wanted the job.
He needed the money.
But at the same time, he
he knew, I think he knew deep down that he was going
to get attached to it a lot of these people.
You know, even from the very first job, you know, he felt ashamed
of like doing the, doing that job.
Like, he's like, what about these people?
Like, like, I'm going to hurt these people.
I'm lying to them.
But then he's, he, he makes that
justification because he's, he feels empathetic
and he doesn't want this false connection, you know?
But then he understands that like he's
helping people in a way and then that's when he moves forward with like taking more jobs
But then that it sets that dangerous precedence for himself
to where he's like starts getting connected to these people, getting
attached to these people in a much deeper way than he thought.
I'm sure he never even expect.
Yeah.
Amber, your thoughts?
I felt like he and Mia had such a good
connection because he mentioned, like briefly that he missed his mom.
And like if he could one, he would rent a mom and she like misses her dad.
So it's like, I think he kind of really got how she felt.
Like we were, like Donnie was saying, like, based on your life experience, you know, it could feel a void for you too.
Like, I think it kind of, he, he just, even though, you know, she was a
kid and he was an adult, like, she really got how he felt and he really got how she felt.
And by the way, we're in the era of child actors are killing it.
You know, this movie, left-handed girl.
I mean, even even the young actor and Rosemine like,
man, we're just in like the golden era of like child actors that are killing it.
Because when I was a kid, I feel like back in the 90s, early 2000s, it was hit or miss with child actors.
But like now I'm like, I don't know.
There's like, there's
like all these great child actors out there that are just fucking killing it.
No, you're wrong.
Am I wrong?
Fuck you.
Yeah, you're wrong.
There was a bunch of great child actors in the 90s.
and twins....
That's a goddamn lie.
You fucking.
That' cheating picked that back.
Oh, the two Lindsay Lohan from the Parent Trap.
Oh, we' also kidding.
But in all serious, Alex, I wanted to ask you, did
you did you see any parallels to both Lost in Translation and her in this movie?
Did you get that at all?
Did anyone else get that at all?
I kind of felt there was some..
I mean.
inspiration there.
I was in Japan, but.
I mean, I think more so Lost in translation
than her, but although her takes place in a futuristic society
and also is filmed in Singapore, another Asian
country that's like very faturistic as well.
But like, at the same time
it's the parallels to is basically just the loneliness.
Lost in Translation, her, this movie.
I mean, to a lesser degree, this movie, but it still
conveyed the loneliness that this country and how like, you know, the biggest
problem is suicide.
Yeah, that's a good point.
Donning, your thoughts?
Yeah, just to piggyback off what I like
to say, how, you know, the parallels are of depression is a depression.
But have you guys ever heard of a phenomenon called Hikokobori?
I think they mention it in the movie, don't they?
I'm not sure.
I don't think they mentioned it perseely., but what it is, it's
a phenomenon that's popular in Japan, and basically, it
means to retreat or hide inside yourself.
It's like a modernn day hermit.
A lot of people in Japan suffer
from loneliness and of the reason for that
is because of all the social,
the, the way the way that their life is set up, like they have to be super successful.
They get all this stress from their parents to do, you know, what is that they want them to do.
And it causes them to have like social withdrawal and just
the pressures of work, delayed marriages, and even the urbanization of their city.
It's causing all these issues and then loneliness is huge in Japan
And, I mean, there's been even shifts and
changes in the way that businesses like businesses
are data popping up in Japan now where they even set it up for people
to eat by themselves.
Like there You can go to a restaurant, there'll be a cubicle where you can eat Robin by yourself.
Like that's crazy.
Like they're adapting to this solo lifestyle that's becoming a real problem in Japan, mainly for
people who are the elderly, who are,
you know, their spouses have passed away and also for young professionals
who are so obsessed with like, you know, making a statement
at work or making sure they live up to the standards that their parents set for them at a young age.
I'm glad you' bring that up because there was that scene where the guy simulating
being fucking berated by his bosses and shit at work because the work culture in Japan is very
they take that shit seriously.
Like, you don't work nine to five.
You work. whenever you start to whenever you end, and that could be 12 hours, that could be 14 hours.
Yeah, it's crazy.
Yeah.
Like we can complain here about, oh, 40 foot the hour.
No, like, it's nothing compared to what you see in Japan.
And I thought that was so funny
and poignant, that scene where the guy's being berated in the boardroom and
all those fucking cardboard cutouts around the boardroom table.
And I was like, yeah, that, that, that tranks for what I from based on what I've heard.
Alex, your thoughts?
Well, I was going to bring up something else that's like
kind of kind of somewhat similar to what the concept that Donnie brought up.
There's in Korea, there's a concept called Han, and it's
basically like this sort of
internal shame.
It's like a generational thing and it kind of it kind of
leads to like that, a similar sort of situation with
the depression, retuting into yourselves and everything like that.
They kind of like tuck away any sort of problems and
they just, you know, it just becomes a sort of thing.
And I think I feel like it's one of those things where it comes to
Asian societies in general.
I don't, I don't want to say like the Philippines,
because the Philippines are the Philippinos are are oddly a
very joyous, you know, a joyous culture, you know?
We're not Absolutely.
We're not Right, Arnold.
We're not.
You know what' We don't really
retreat within ourselves.
We kind of like celebrate amongst each other.
You know, we each celebrate each other's
you know, like.
We're a very similaribatory culture.
Yet at the same time, there is some sort of like guilt
and shame in Filipino.
I think it's that Catholic guilt, right?
Because Filipinos and Mexicans we have all carry that Catholic guilt to us, don't you think?
It's the, what is that?
The
uh, yeah.
You know what I mean?
Colonizational.
Exactly.
Exactly.
Arnold, you've been kind of quiet, my friend.
What are your thoughts on rental family?
You know, here's my initial thought.
We've been using the hand raised thing, so you guys will be talking about something
and then I'll have a thought in my mind.
And then I'm like, okay, I'm going to raise my hand.
But then I'm listening.
My hand was raised first.
Oh.
Are you kidding, Arnold?
And then see, what happens then I lose my train of thought.
That's basic limit it is.
That's.
So then I don't raise my hand at all.
What are your raw thoughts after having just watched this movie?
Just right off the bat, like, you know, rapid fire?
Well, Well, it was also, you know, just just the
the addressing the issue of mental health, you
know, we have a problem out here in our country.
There's obviously out
there and they're both handled, you know, differently.
We don't really have a service like that really
here, but, man, that's quite different.
Yeah, in Japan and just.
I ask you this, Arnold.
What was your favorite moment from this movie?
Either sad, funny, or otherwise?
Because there was a lot of funny moments in this movie, too.
Well, one, when we were talking about the little girl, Mia, it really hit home for me because
you know, I have a granddaughter named Mia.
That's right to think about how he's
started to get attached and you see them start to get
attached and it was it was really beautiful, how it started.
I just feel that it was going to happen.
And then when you actually started to see it happen and then you see the mom, like
oh, you know, basically just very transactional about it.
Like, okay, tomorrow's the last day.
But then it's like, oh, bro, man.
Dude, don't do that to her.
Like, just, you know, then he's faced with like,
okay, this is my job or do I do the right thing
And, and another thought that I was thinking about,
oh yeah, earlier, I started thinking about it, but I forgot.
But now I remember was, you
know, they're sweeping the stuff under the rug and just
not being honest, not being honest with themselves,
not being honest with, you know, dealing with the situation
To me, especially with just how I
dealt with the stuff was it's always best to just
come up with the truth because like the truth is going to come out later sometime.
The truth will set you free.
Indeed.
Chris, thank you.
You had some thoughts?
Yeah, well, similar to what we're
addressing, Brendan Fraier in this, his
character, Philip, he, in a way, yes, he is lying, right?
He's acting.
He is playing a part.
He is acting as
through this service, not
truly being honest.
However, Philip the actor,
right, who, before like doing a role for the
rental family service, he himself, you see, and Brendan
Frasier does such a great job at this as I feel like he does the same thing.
He has like this
straight shot earnestness about him and
this authenticity and sincerity about himself and
where he almost like at any given moment, he's doing his
best to be honest in any given moment,
almost as like, he doesn't know how to not be honest, right.
So like him, he's like constantly like living in the moment
and you see him going through
this process, like from the beginning of the movie to the end of
kind of staying true to himself all the way through.
What we're really seeing is not necessarily him wrapping his mind around it.
Only he's more rather, he's being like
completely changed through it
if that makes sense.
Like where he he's like adding
to himself because he's not faking it.
He's not trying to act for anyone else.
He just like shows up at any given moment.
And he's very honest with himself, first and foremost.
And the reason I even bring that up is because like you
see that struggle with the wedding scene.
You see that struggle with Mia and the kid and
when they're in front of the board trying to make the case for why their daughter should be picked.
And he can't control himself so much from
not being honest that that he speaks his mind and says, you know what?
Like he acts as his
as the father for Mia.
And you even see like a flash in the
mother that hired Philip, like
clock it, clock it, clock it.
And it's almost like
you see it come across her face like, wow, this guy truly cares
so much that he can't control himself.
And the title all back to what we were talking about,
Arnie does the same thing.
Like he shows up very earnestly
and very honestly, like all the goofball stuff and all everything else.
And the way he shows up for everyone, including me and his own relationship.
And I just think that's like the magic of this film.
That's the magic of noting Arnie.
So cheers on the podcast.
Thank you for that, Chris Donnie.
You had some thoughts.
Yeah, I was just going to add on to what Jess did Chris were say because I
got to spend some time with Arnie at his and his family the last time I went to Palm Springs.
And, I mean, I've spent time with him, but not with
with his wife and Mia, but I could tell like
that, it radiates from the way that she engaes with you.
And I have a son, so I could totally like, I get it.
I get the vibe.
I can feel it.
Like she totally, she' totally like sees you as a haed figure for sure.
Like Thanks, man.
That's awesome.
Even though like she's getting like older now and she's like, let me see your phone.
s kind of games still like. kind of games on your phone?
Oh, yeah.
That type of kinds of games.
Yeah.
She'll go on my Amazon and start putting stuff in the car or liking stuff.
My son has ordered movies.
I'm like, what the fuck, did you ordered this?
A game?
Keep them off Roblox.
Well, It's not even just Arnold.
Like, I want, like, Donnie, you two, Alex,
you as well with your niece and nephew, and everything.
Like, you guys are there like 100%
Like, every chance you guys get, you guys are there for your
kids, uh, whether it's your niece and nephew or your, your son, Donnie.
It's like, it's a beautiful thing to see.
Like, there's people out there like, I don't mean to get too
emotional, but my dad wasn't there for me, you know?
It fucking sucks, dude.
Having to deal with the drug dad that's never there for you, that fucking
chooses drugs over everything else.
You know, like your kids are second to nothing.one, you know?
And it fucking sucks, you know, and it makes me so happy to see that you guys
are there for those that need it the most,
you know, whether they have the parents there or not, you know, it's like,
you know, I'm, it just makes me happy to see.
And I think that's why I personally try
my best to help other people out is because
I don't, I never got that from either parent
that I, that I've grown up with, you know, and it really
it really, it really sucks.
I don't mean to get emotional about that.
It's perfectly.
It's like, it just, it's it's a beautiful thing.
Like I said, and I think this movie really brings that out as
well, you know, it shows that there's people out there
you know, that are that are wanting to help,
that want to be there for other people, fake or not.
You don't have to be don't have to be a parent to be there for somebody.
That's why I knew this movie was going to wreck me because
you really see it, and I forget who said, who said it, but somebody said, you
see it in Brendan Fraier's eyes, the hesitance of of not wanting her to know the truth because
it's not just going to wreck her, it's going to wreck him.
It's going to wreck both of them, you know?
Like, I just thought that that acting, that performance he put out there was, was brilliant in that sense.
Like, he really wanted to be a father figure and keep it going. despite
the parameters that were set by the agency that he works for, right?
Alex, you had some thoughts?
Well, just to add on to, um, what, uh, everybody's
been saying, it's, um, I mean, obviously,
uh, Brendan Frazier's character, Philip, isn't
blood related at all.
But he, like, again, when you're trying
to get a connection, you create connections with people and stuff like that, it's obviously
like akin to friendship, right?
You're creating these friendships with people the
way, you know, and one of the things that I saw,
some research recently where they said that the top three things people look
for in like good friendships, like to
look that are the good, like sort of indicators of a good
friendship are honesty, ethical, and pleasant.
These are the things that you look for in. good sense of humor.
Well, that's that's not the metric that they, but these are the.
Well, definitely
It's my metric.
You could be an asshole to have a good sense of.
That' why I'm friends with dick fuckers.
But yeah, it'ss one of those things.
And you see that in Philip, right?
He's being absolutely honest as hard as it is for him to be.
There are parameters he can't cross
because of his job.
So he can't tell Mia that he's not his father's not her father.
He can't tell Kikon. was Kiku?
The old gentleman actor?
Yeah, Kiku.
He can't tell him that he's not a
reporter, but he can be a good friend.
He could be a good friend to him and, you know, be
honest with him as far as he could be.
And
you know.
I was ethical.
And ethical too.
So you look at that, he was like, he left and,
you know, he when he, when the actor told
him to, but he came back still because he knew in his heart that he needed to be that.
Like, he's doing right by him, right, to take him to his old
you know, hole or wherever he was going to take him to.
I'm glad you bring that up because I wanted to talk about the the old
character of Kiku because I was worried that subplot
was going to be like the weakest part of the movie, but no, it ended being
just as beautiful as the main plot with Mia.
And I wanted to ask you guys. is just as just as important?
Exactly.
And in a different dynamic, right?
Because whereas Mia as a child, Kiku is an older man.
So it's like, is Brendan Fraser sort of like the surrogate grandson in a way.
It doesn't matter.
But my point is like, I really love that whole scene with him at the end where what does he say?
He says like after they're praying at an altar and then Brendan
Fraser makes that remark like, oh, Japan has more gods and convenience stores or bending machines.
And then Kik goes, what does he say to him?
He's like, have you guys heard, have you heard of the five million gods
theory or whatever?
And he goes through them?
million gods.
Eight million gods.
I thought that whole speech was really beautiful and moving.
And like, I did not know where that whole subplot was going, but I'm glad..
The ending.
That ending.
When he goes to the. shrine.
Where you're talking about Brendan Fraser at the very very end, right?
Yeah, the very, very end, when he goes to the shrine and then he goes to where the
the old man, the actor was at the very beginning when they first meet.
And then they like go, he goes in there and
finally and sees what was behind that curtain and it was that mirror.
And it was his yeah, his reflection.
And there's I was it's that idea that God is is in everyone, including ourselves.
Yeah, HLP had brought that up in the chat.
I'm glad you're bringing up because that was such a beautiful way to end it.
Like this movie doesn't have like major big plot twists recept pieces.
It's very much a human story..
Donnie, your thoughts?
Yeah, I was just going to add on to what Alex was saying.
I thought it was really cool how they
how they did that in the movie because you look
at Mia and like the struggle for her is like the pressures that are coming into her future, right?
Trying to get into that school and then you look at Kiko on the other end where
it's like his life is, his past is like slipping away from him.
He's losing his memory, he's about to die, passed away.
And so it's kind of like, it's it's just like, it's just like a nice balance
of how the director Hiari the debt.
I just wanted to mention that.
Alex.
I just wanted to track back and say, like, Justin, thank you for sharing that
with that with us.
I know that's like, it's, you know, vulnerability is like
very difficult for some people and you sharing what you had shared was
very, it means, a lot to me.
And I think it's you sharing that is
very, it shows that, you know, you trust us as well.
Well, to kind of give you guys' perspective,
it's like just a brief perspective of my life growing up.
Again, my dad was addicted to drugs.
He didn't really give a shit about anything else.
You know, there were moments in time where I was like, wow,
you know, finally, like I have a dad
that I that, you know, will support me and things and stuff like that.
But all the way up to his death, it's always been like
a selfish thing for like me and my brother.
And, uh, like when my mom got
with my stepdad and then married him as well, like,
he's not, he's not the greatest person ever.
He's never been supportive of the things that I've done.
He treated me like I was just this extra
you know, kid in his house.
He didn't, he never really taught me anything.
He was into, you know, race cars.
He had a West Coast pro truck, you know, like think
of like typical redneck white man.
Like that's who my mom chose.
And she chose him over me and my brother.
That's for sure.
And it's like, I never really got that support from my mom either.
It really fucking sucks, you know,
and it's on top of that, you know, just to keep it brief,
you know, I had this other guy that I was supposed
to look up to who didn't give a shit that I existed.
He didn't care about the art and things that I wanted to do.
He didn't care about any of the things that I was interested in.
He threatened to kill me on numerous occasions.
He kicked me out on numerous occasions
I was homeless for months on
a couple of occasions because he kicked me out.
You know, I've never had that support that other people have.
Like, that's why I'm I'm happy that there's people
like you guys out there, Alex, Arnold, Donnie, Adrian
Chris, I don't know if you have kids, Amper.
I'm not going to ask.
Because I don't know either.
But it's like.
I'm a lot like, you know what?
So I appreciate you sharing because similar shit.
It's just like, it fucking sucks and
it makes me happy to see you guys there
for your kids, niece and nephew, granddaughter,
you know, I'm glad you guys are there because there's people
like me out there that never, never once got any of that,
you know, you had to figure it out for yourself, you know?
So it makes me really happy.
You know, I'm proud to be your friend because I know that you're there to take care of each other
you know?
Sorry, I don't mean to go.
No, no, don't apologize.
I'm my full eye, emotional right now.
You're good, you guys.
I'm proud.
You be your friend.
I'm.
I're my wife.
I be your friend.
We all love being your friend, Justin, and you know that you can always talk to us
about anything at any time on the show or otherwise.
And I wanted to ask you, sincence we're talking about this
right now, what do you think, Justin, did Brendan Fraser's character learned in the end from these experiences?
Like, like, because he himself doesn't have a father as
well in his life, as he mentions in the movie.
And we find out he died two years earlier.
What do you think was his takeaway at the end there?
His mother had died ten years.
Yeah, so he was alone.
Oh, his mother
yeah.
You know, he was lonely.
And it was it's a lot like I was saying earlier in the podcast.
It's like, you know, what would I do something like this?
Would I rent myself out to be someone there for somebody else?
I think, yeah, I think he came to a realization that he can be.
And I feel like, like, like I said before, you know,
he's filling the void, but also filling the void within himself.
And I think that's his, I think that's ultimately his takeaway.
That's his responsibility.
That's my responsibility
is to fill the void, to help where I wasn't helped.
That's a great to grow from that.
Yeah.
And I'm I'm sure you in your own way have
grown in so many ways and I become stronger, right?
Don't you feel as a result of
the life that you've had, you know, the experiences you've been through with the people you, you know.
So it's like, in the end, you can at least say like, you know, this is,
it's made me stronger, right?
With what I've gone through and stuff, you know, I feel like most people
can say that, and especially in like extreme circumstances of not having
you know, a father figure in your life, right?
That's why it's such an interesting perspective that you bring it up.
So, you know, thank you again for sharing that because I think I think
it really matters when we're talking about this kind of story, especially.
Donnie, you had some thoughts?
Yeah, I was just going to say, I think like there was some real
things that came out of having that fake identity, right?
There was like real friendships for those real growth within Brandon Frrazier's character
This movie is about loadiness, but I think ultimately
it really shows how you can create genuine bonds from unconventional moments or situations.
And people who you never thought you'd create bonds with, right?
I mean Absolutely.
Brenda Fier is a fish out of water in this movie, and he
creates these deep bonds with these people, Mia and the older gentlemen.
Like, you can't make that up, right?
Like AI could never.
Chris, you had some thoughts?
Yeah, well, to touch on that.
Like, there's something, this movie does
so many great things where they just layer so many different
aspects of what they're truly addressing with, which is
both the family that you never have, the family
that you do get and how loneliness
is handled in this culture, right?
And then showing an Americanized version where
we're getting to essentially have like a peep hole into what this looks like, right?
The audience and Burden Fraser gets along this
And I think with Philip is something
that's really beautiful that happens at the
same time is he's he's sort of being like audited as
well by, the woman who also
works at the rental agency, Ico.
And like she even has that moment at the bar of like
this is, this is serious.
Like people hear like, we go through this and
you, you, you have this really, again, you have this earnest moment between
them And Britain Frasier is like, I, I live here.
Like, this is, these are my people, right?
Like, you are my people.
And that was just, and then you see that, like, that's the
beginning of seeing that guard get lit down
which then lends itself to seeing like
how Wally, yes, it's like, you hear that cheesy thing of like, we're coworkers.
We're family here.
But like there is something to be said.
Like by the end of the movie, because they are so vulnerable
in all these different ways and show up, um, that there's like this found family
sense that they all get from one another.
And like you, you get to see like that cheesy happiness at
the end of like everything's working out now that they've worked
out some kinks and everyone's good.
I do think that there's something to be said about those genuine relationships being had.
And to like what you're saying, Justin, like we, what we're
doing here, it's the podcast, like we have a found family sense
of like where we feel comfortable enough to talk about that.
And we, we appreciate you even having that opportunity to share that with us.
Like that allows us to have a conversation that, again, we're trying to address like a stigmatized
culture of like not being able to talk about this openly and
feeling like, oh, I have to apologize.
Like, no, like you, you're amongst people who care about you, man.
And I think that that's the message we really want to spread.
And that's what this movie tackles.
I love that.
I love that.
Alex?
Yeah, just to also touch on that point is
so there's this it's a two-way treatment as
well when it comes to vulnerability and
like opening up and everything where like,
like Justin feeling comfortable enough about to talk to us and then tell us these things
but also him also allowing us to be there for him.
That's a very important thing too,
because, like people like, like your friends want to show up for you, right?
They want to be able to be there for you.
But if you don't open up to them and allow
them to be there for you, you're not allowing them to
fulfill their part of their purpose
is to, you know, as a friend, you know?
And it's it's it's honestly like an actual half friendship.
It's not really full friendship if you're not
allowing people to show up for you.
And so I think that's that's an important aspect to look at too.
So if you think about
the Brendan Fraser's job,
you know, yeah, he's, he's being there for them,
but now like if you like in reverse, you look at, especially
the older actor, he's actually
allowing Philip to be there
for him, you know, to allowing him to, you know, he,
Philip makes the choice is like, no, I'm going to, this is the jailbreak.
And then then we we're going to go and go and do this mission.
And so, like he's, Brendan Fier is taking on that thing.
He's like, yeah, like, I'm here for you.
Like, and it's full.ulfilling something and part of him.
Like he didn't know he really had for that actor
until like he had like those epiphanies and like
right before, you know, he he decided to go back and let's go.
Let's go.
Let's make this journey.
So that's kind of like, they're there
for each other in a sense, to create this full
bond, you know, not just this house half friendship.
Amber?
I'm a huge Hitchcock fan.
And so like when he was looking in the windows, I was getting like a rear window vibe.
You guys?
Yeah, I wanted to bring that up.
Wait, which part?
Like, every time you looked in the windows at all the different people's lives.
the one.
That was definitely a callback.
It was almost like missing.
It was a callback.
Yeah, yeah.
And am I crazy or do you see the same similar looking old man through a one of the windows?
Yes.
That's what I'm saying.
And I felt like the blocking of the couple with the baby was like when
Miss Lonelyhearts is like pretending someone's there.
And she's like letting him in for dinner.
It's like, oh, that was crazy.
And there were twists in this movie as well.
We find out that the guy that runs the agency himself is getting high on his own supply.
Arnold, I want to go to you next, my friend.
What did you think about that twist?
Yeah, I was like, I was, wow, like, oh, wait a minute.
Let's try it again.
Arnold, what did you think about that twist?
No, I'm just kidding.
Give me a little bit more drama this time, on.
Give me more..
No, but yeah.
That was I'll be Arnold right now.
No!
Hold.
Hold on.
Hold on..
It was like Ckey.
Ooh, I love the awesome accent, Arnold.
No, but seriously, what did you think about that?
I didn't expect that because the first time that you
see his family, it's like, oh, wow, okay.
Well, there's's his normal life now.
But then the second time that when he's like, hold on, let's try this again.
Because she grabbed his shoulder too hard or something.
What?
Yeah.
Yeah.
I was confused by that.
Yeah.
I was like,
oh, dude, man, people be living fake lives too much..
And then the subplot with the other girl at the agency who's
used as a surrogate for the guy's mistress.
That was great.
Small as that was.
Oh, man And did I understand correctly that
that that guy slapped her at some point, or was it the agency owner that somebody slapped that girl, right?
Go ahead., yeah.
So it was the. would be the ex.
Yeah, the wife, yeah.
I think he definitely put his wife back by making her jealous with like a hot little thing.
But like, they really didn't have anything going on at all.
So he he just planned the thing, right??
Right.
It was, it was
obviously them, like, she
knew that it was like a surrogate, like.
But who did the slapping, though?
Was it?
It was the wife slashgirl or whatever who that got that got cheated on.
So remember in the restaurant
like she's in there and then the wife slaps the
surrogate and then they leave.
And then she's like, are you going to pay for the dinner as well?
Like at least, you know?
Like they pay?
I don't No, because remember like, like, so they, they, she
gets paid for the thing and then the guy almost leaves and she's like, you need to pay for the dinner.
This is
This is your job you paid me for this.
This is included in the job.
You're talking about Brennan Frrazier's female.
No, no, remember the restaurant and the girl.
She said the slap was extra.
Oh, yeah.
Yeah, the slap was extra.
That's extra.
Yeah.
But she made him pay for the slap
and then he paid for the slap and then he was about to leave.
And he's like, she said, no, no, no.
You also need to pay me what I'm owed for this interaction.
Who is she?
Who are you referring to?
The surrogate.
The surgate. was Iiko.
Iiko.
Her name.
The girl that was Brendan Frier's coworker at the agency.
Yes.
Yeah.
I thought we should just mention it.
I don't know that we actually saw that moment.
We saw it.
No, you see it..
It was a really quick scene.
The
interaction.
Wow.
I took it as her saying the slap is, I think
that the agency was paid for her time.
And then she said the slap is extra in the check, like the food too, bro.
Yeah.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, it was the food and I. I don't remember that moment.
Yeah.
Did you did you eat a heavy meal for watching this?
Well, I'm getting sabbed.
I'm eating everything.
Ah, Truer words.
You never spoken.
Donnie, you had something to say.
Clack it, clack it.
Yeah..
Going back to Aiko's character, I was just going to say, that's
an important character, because that really gives you insight to
this business and how the dark side of this business, right?
That's the main purpose of her being in that movie.
It's like, yeah, that, the reality
and crossing that line right there, it's like super thin, especially for her.
But it's kind of stupid danger.
If you're cheating on your wife, are you going to go through the trouble of hiring a surrogate
mistress to like come into your house and apologize to you?
Like, who really does that, bro?
Because he has no balls to bring in the red.
He's that girl.
You know what I mean?
That's is.
Yeah.
Gotcha, gotcha.
That's.
She mentions it on the second gig that she has that similar service
right?
She goes, like, I'm here as a surrogate because your
boyfriend or her husband doesn't have the balls.
Right to you..
Yeah.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah..
But that's pretty disrespectful to your wife either way.
Obviously, cheating is bad, but then hire a surrogate
to say, by the way, this is the chick I cheated on you with saying, you know, sorry to.
Well,
That's like a double.
It's a double It's Yeah.
Here's an interesting thing, though.
And I saw this in a video on
Instagram, like kind of a man on the street but it was in Japan
and they're like, done by a Japanese person.
They were like, he's like, what are your views on cheating?
And this is kind of an interesting thing that, like, when it comes to that particular scene.
And I don't know how true
or how generalized this is, but like
cheating in Japan is not really that
frown upon as long as they.
That's interesting.
Yeah, because like, because it's sort of that
sort of salaryman lifestyle, especially because they're
so busy that they don't have time to have, you
know, intercourse with their partner, right?
And so, like, as long as the partner is aware,
like, it's not really considered, you know, like, and especially if
it's a very transactional thing where it's not like emotional,
if they go and they pay for it, then it's not.
But then I guess like this situation
it is a a very emotional thing.
So I don't know.
I don't know.'s culture confuses me because they're okay with that, but they're going to blur out everything.
Never mind.
I won't get into all that.
But I did want to talk about, what did I want to talk about?
I don't even remember.
Now I'm losing my train of thought.
Arnold, so I'm there with you.
We're all losing our train of thoughts.
Well, I wanted to bring up like something that HLP said.
He's like, well, basically agreeing, this is more reason
these kinds of services are needed here in America
For people who are fortunate to help lift you back up.
Again, like, like when we were talking about like how Justin,
if Justin would like want to do, like, be like a Phillip.
I guess you were asking that question earlier, if he'd be interested in doing that something like that.
Well, what I wanted to talk about was the reason why
I think this movie is so relevant today, especially, is because there
are surrogates, except they're artificial intelligence surrogates.
And this has become a thing now that people are using AI chatbots
to stand in for people in their lives.
What do you guys think about that then the fact that there's this obsession
right now with using an AI chat plot as a romantic partner, as a boyfriend?
I honestly think that's.
Arnold's laughing.
I honestly think that's a very dangerous thing because because here's the's the thing.
What's worse?
What's worse?
A Human or AI surrogate.
Well, here's the thing.
A AI is what?
They're just gathering information and like finding the most
average answer to things, right?
So, In a nutshell. in a nutshell.
And so, like, that is not a good way
to deal with things, especially, you know, like having a surrogate.
You're not getting the kind of surrogate, like how you're having in her, the movie her, right?
Right.
If you had that, maybe that, maybe that would make better sense.
But even that was toxic.
Right?
Like, even that was not, not good in the Well, it was toxic.
She breaks his heart in the end.
It's toxic for that person because the humans aren't
like, they don't process things as fast as they,
those computers were processing in the movie Her, right?
Like they were able to like learn at an alarming rate.
And so they understood that love is fluid and love is not like, like
they understood that Joaquin Phoenix's character is eventually going to die.
And, you know, they' they're going to be left gun.
That's a good point.
And like, they're leaving these
AI whatever behind.
But
they found partnership with
other AI characters or whatever in the movie Her.
But here, with these surgates, these human surrogates,
they're actual, you know, processing ethanormal rate that we're processing things, right?
I think Alex is kind of covered already about having like no emotional
connection that it's not considered cheating.
But I was going to say that in Japan, they have like these bars where you literally pay for
the opposite sex to come hang out with you all night, get drunk with you, say karaoke, and it is there.
It's not like there's no sex involved.
They also have prostitution, but it's completely separate.
But it's kind of crazy.
Or is it separate?
It's insane.
It's burn it out there.
I feel like that's.
I have to say, like from a stripper's perspective, I feel
like this is about to be my segment because I always chime in with this, but like Hit with it.
Hit us with it.
That's two different.
Amir alert, we we.
That's a new segment I. We call Amber.
We talked about this.
Dude, like a person that would be rented to cuddle is
not even the same type of person that would be rented for sex.
Like, it's just too Why not?
Too different.
Why not?
What's the difference?
I feel like a prostitute don't cuddle, and a cuddler don't fuck.
Like, I don't, I just feel like it's like, I feel like I'm on
the cuddle side and it's like, obviously was faced with situations
like that where it's just like, could never.
Like, it's like, no, like, you know what I mean?
A cuddler's probably more looking for something authentic or
something in a person Couldn't you pay a prostitute to cuddle with you?
Yeah.
Couldn't you pay a prostitute to cuddle with you?
They would do it.
But that's not the expertise., but that's like, probably
not, because I think they won't want a connection.
I think that it's something about the connection.
There's no, there's no sex and there's
no cuddling in the champagne room is what you're telling me, right?
I don't know what other bitches are doing
They could be.
They could be.
I don't know.
Could be.
Well, like I said, we'll have our interns look into it.
Uh, Donnie or Donnie, you had something to say?
Yeah.
I have a friend that's an escort or she used to be an escort.
And she was taught me about wood tide where she was pissed off
because her customer was trying to kiss her.
And she's, I have a fucking escort.
I don't do that.
And so it's there's a difference.
Like, that's that's Why not kissing?
What's the difference?
Because it's it's more personal.
It's more personal to me.
She's going to fuck your body a person's body parts.
She doesn't want its tongue.
Yeah, I know.
I know it sounds really weird, but but think about that.
Again, it's like censoring censoring body parts in Japanese porn, but, oh, you're allowed to have a mistress.
A backwards. mentality, almost.
It's like, whereas like certain girls aren't going
to give the pussy without like a kiss and like some food and
like some time spent and like, you know, but then it's almost
like a, like a prostitute woman is thinking like they're not, they're going to give the pussy.
It's nothing.
But like, we're not going to give a kiss.
We're not going to hold your hand.
We're not going to cuddle.
It's like backwards
almost.
It's like, what's kind of crazy I get what you're thinking.
That's intimate.
That's too intimate. think of it like in terms of Anora,
the movie Anora, like, you know, when she
was like in the room with those dudes, like, she would get like
you know, do the lap dance, but she never got intimate with any of them.
The only times she got intimate with anyone was when
the Russian kid, but he paid for that.
Did they ever kiss in that movie?
I don't remember if they kissed from the.
I can't recall, but.
I don't think they did.
That's neither here or never, because if you think about it, it's like
he paid for a service to be
his girlfriend to come around and like.
I get a lot tonight.
So I'm learning a lot tonight.
I'm learning a lot tonight.
Chris.
Yeah, well, I mean, the movie addresses it, right?
So we have the sex worker, right?
Who is like friends with Brendan Fraser, right?
He hires her
right?
That's.
No, I thought that was his girlfriend.
Is that his girlfriend?
I don't think so..
That's the whole point of like, you have 10 more minutes.
That whole bit was.
That wasn't his girlfriend.
Oh, my God.
I am missing everything tonight.
Okay.
I thought that was his fucking girlfriend.
That's what we're sort of like touching on with this.
She's?
I take care of the physical.
You take care of the emotional.
And like That's why she's that recontextualizes the whole thing for me.
Yeah.
That's that's like the huge
You have to rewatch it now.
I have to rewatch.
Yeah, I have 24 hours on my rental to watch it.
Yeah.
Well, that has been a discussion, if I've ever heard one.
And we have seven years in the chat.
HLP, by the way, MVP of the chat as always with
making great points about stuff.
And then we have Arnold a little late to it, but getting on to his shake the hips.
I think we're at that point now, though, where we can wrap her up unless anybody has any
anything else they want to talk about before we get into it?
Anyone?
No?
This is his second twerk.
Y'all better recognize.
He' been back to work?
Yeah, Arnold really has taken care of the physical right now.
Yeah.
I'm never drinking tequila on this podcast again.
No.
Unless you go to mini golf with Amber, and then you can have some tequila shots.
Right?
Right.
Follow me, shot.
We're going to do shots..
By the way, the directorari shots.
Of this movie, Hiikari, the director, is a woman.
I didn't know that.
She directed the movie.
I' never seen it.
I heard of it that called Beef.
No, it wasn't a movie was watching TV series.
You' never seen Beef?
That's such a good show.
That.
That was such a show.
That's got Kaylee Spaney, Oscar Isaac?
Wow.
Carrie Mulligan.
Look at that.
I need to watch it.
It has a's the guy from Steven Yen.
Stephen Ewan, yeah, from Walking Dead?
Yeah.
It's a good show, dude.
I need to watch that.
David David Cho?
Dave Cho is in that movie?
Beef, yeah. basically plays himself.
Yeah.
I think we watched that movie like all in one night.
All right, lady and
gentlemans, I think it's time for final thoughts.
And I think I'm going to start with Donnie.
Give me your final thoughts.
On Ral Family.
Yeah.
I' really loved this movie.
I wanted to see it at the theater, but I didn't get a chance to, so I'm glad we did this movie on here.
I just wanted to bring up
what my favorite scenes?
And it wasn't the very end where, you
know, when a guy passes away and then you see the rental family
crew, the employees all come together.
Yeah, they're like there together as a family, as a unit, right,
in honor of that guy's death.
But I thought it was just Shotwell.
The director, Hiikari, she started off as a photographer.
The way she phamed that shot was really beautiful and it was surrounded by like the cherry blossoms.
And I don't know.
That was just like my favorite part of the movie.
You're a photographer.
Yeah, I think that's kind of why I gravitate towards like certain like scenes or like why things pop out.
Is there a future film in the Donnie Guzman universe?
Are we going to see a Donnie Guzmanted?
That awesome.
That would be sick, right?
We're going to do crossing film.
Well..
We'll just do a live documentary when we're in Japan.
There a going?
Where'd you?
Yeah, people can find me at underscore.
Appeed on Instagram main.
If you want us check out some of my photography It's a 125 photography on Instagram as well.
I give this fail four out of five.
Oh, yeah.
Chris, Mr. Milkman America, what are your final thoughts on Ral Family, my friend?
Yeah, I think we can talk another four hours
about this movie, but I just think that
it was everything from well cast to,
honestly, the direction of this movie to your point, Donnie,
like everything from How was shot and like the certain
shots where you got a full feeling
of where Brandon Fraser was at.
And in his journey at any given point.
And like the beautiful aspects of like taking us into the cityscape
and taking us into like those natural, beautiful, natural areas
and getting those shots of like capturing like
true honest emotion was just really well done.
And that's only enhanced with the
organic soundscapes that they had like, um recorded.
And they were able to like capture like this really raw,
like innocence keeping it bubbly, but then also
like having like this gravitas to like every single moment.
Like it was just seamless.
Like it blended so well and enhanced every scene
But as far as like the overall messaging,
like we've hit it over the head a million times, but the fact
that loneliness is not restricted
to any one person or any one area and that we should be
talking about mental health, that we should be sharing our stories.
And I just feel like, A, we're really blessed
in this podcast group to be able to have conversations like that.
So thank you again
uh, Justin.
But this movie just just knocks it out of the park.
Like, I would give it, I'm going to be honest, I think it's a five out of five for me.
It's not an over the top shop movie.
It was just like hits you right in the feels
and there's almost nothing bad about this movie, I can say.
So I'm going to give it a five out of five.
And, Milkman America, and you can find me anywhere on social.
Awesome.
Love it, Milman.
Amber, what are your final thoughts?
Where can people find you?
I really thought the child, I can't, I don't know what
her name is, but I thought Mia's performance was exceptional and she was so cute
And, um yeah,
like, just basically what the other guy said.
Like, we need to be talking more about stuff like this.
Did they cast a multiracial actress for me, by the way?
I don't.
I don't know if that was a purpose.ish.
You look whitish.
Yeah.
She's only died.
That's crazy.
That's great.
That's great casting right there.
Yeah, so I give it a four out of five.
That dem Denver girl on all socials.
Justin, what are your final thoughts and where can people find you?
I do appreciate the Brendan Frazier Renaissance
I think the last film that made me truly feel
that was casted with Brent Frazier was the
whale, you know, and he won a lot of awards for that.
And I'm surprised he didn't win anything for this one.
Like I feel like he could have.
Easily, easily could have.
A lot of snubs this year.
Yeah, I feel like there's a lot of snubs, but also, I
think I think centers is is well- deserved of everything.
Oh, that's right.
Everything.
Michael B. Jordan.
Everything that Centers won, they deserved it wholeheartedly.
You know, but I
think, I think right now that I'm thinking about
it, Brendan Frazier has a little bit of everything that has been offered to me.
You know, he has his serious roles.
He has his silly roles and
and beyond.
I think Brend Frazier has proven that he
he is a multifaceted actor.
very deserving of the roles that he gets.
And I'm glad.
It seems to me that he's able to, or his agent
at least, is able to really nitpick the
roles that he participates in.
And rental family is
definitely one to consider as well.
I can relate.
I feel like as I grow up with Brendan
Fraser in my life, I grow up with his roles as well.
I think his roles relate
to a lot of different points in my lifetime,
whether it's like the silly like Airheads
movie or the mummy to like crash.
In my opinion, I'm just going to throw this out there.
In my opinion, I feel like his character and
crash was slightly overshadowed by
what's her name's character?
She She played his wife in the movie Sandra Bullock's character.
I feel like he kind of was a little bit more deserving.
I felt like he didn't his character wasn't able to establish
itself a little bit in the movie Crash
I'm glad to have grown up with Brendan Fraser.
I feel like he was in that sweet spot between
like the late 90s and up until now.
You know, I was, I'm glad he's able to find his
footing again after all the bullshit that he's been through.
Rental family, very relevant, very relevant.
movie, deserving of a little bit more than what it got.
I think it should have, I didn't watch the Oscars,
so correct for me if I'm wrong, did Ral Family get anything?
Any mention?
I didn't nominate for anything.
Wasn't even nominated. nominated for anything.
I think Ral Family
definitely snubbed from the Oscars.
I think it should have been considered in something.
Anything, really.
I think everybody did an extraordinary job, but I can relate to
these films, maybe not directly, you know,
but I can relate to it on a personal level in my own way.
I think it's a very wonderfully
directed movie that had me, you know, question things in my own life
about scenarios that
I could potentially come across in the future or relate
to something that has happened in my past.
And I think any movie that can make me feel
in that type of way is a
little bit more deserving than what
it has, uh, already, you know?
Very wonderfully directed movie, very sweet, kind-hearted movie
with a lot of, you know lessons that can
also be learned at the same time.
Beautiful cinematography, sound
design, like Chris said, uh, you know, I
highly recommend it. potentially even more
than one watch, you know, as far as rewatchability.
It's a very rewatchable, likable film
So in that sense, I definitely
give it a four and a half out of five.
I do prefer the whale, if I were to compare,
I prefer the whale over this film.
Absolutely, but they're both deserving in their own way.
So So you can find me Ghosterd
88 on socials or you can find me Shibs
the Zombie on socials as well, and just follow the links and you'll find me somewhere.
Thank you for that, Justin, and thank you again for opening up about that stuff.
We do appreciate that.
So
great, great discussion.
Alex, final thoughts, what going to people find you.
I really love this film.
It's, done.
The direction, it's funny.
I kind of was thinking about this, and this is a very
uh, American narrative
in the sense that like the way that it was the story was told
that it had like more similarities to American films than
it did to like any sort of Japanese film.
Not to say there was anything wrong with it.
It just felt very more American
I would say that even like there's another film that
I really loved in recent years called Perfect Days,
by a director named W Wenders, who is also not
Japanese, obviously, with a name like that.
It's but he's European.
And it's very, it's it's interesting to see like
people tell stories that take place in Japan
told through their perspective, you know, like when, like that film was such a good movie.
And it's, there are kind of some somewhat parallels
in the sense that they both kind of deal in,
loneliness and like how they, what do you call it?
They deal with it, where Windw Perfect
Day is that his character, he chooses to have a small
life, like away from people.
And because of things that happened
in his own life, he's like, I don't want to be a part of that.
Whereas in this film, people are looking for connection.
And I think that's like an interesting
paradox, when you consider
those things and how, and you have to consider those
fact that, you know, not
everything is the same way that, you know, we see one film.
That's just one perspective and then you see another film that takes
place in the same country and it's a different perspective, but it's all happening in the same country.
And so it's not, not everybody is dealing with like this sort of thing
the same way.
You know, they, some people choose actually, to be alone, you know?
And, you know, yeah, like, like had Donnie had
mentioned it's, there are those people who escape within themselves themselves, but there's
those people that they escape within themselves
by choice.
And it doesn't lead to like any sort of like sadness.
He's like, hence the name Perfect Days, but then you get like a film like rental family.
There are people who need people, you know, and like,
at the end of the day, they both kind of deal with that idea,
needing people, you know, in in perfect days.
He ends up like reconnecting with his
niece, whereas like in, you know, and so that kind of connection with people is there.
But, you know, you see the reasons why he leave.
But anyways, that's like a different movie.
That's like a different discussion.
I like the the little details that they use.
Like in Japan, when you're handed a business
card, you are to accept it with both hands, take it, read it, study it
with int intensity and like actually almost
like really like remember it, you know?
And that's a sign of respect, you know?
So you like, you don't like take the card and like just instantly stick it
in your pocket, but it's like, it's that's that's such a crazy, like
interesting, accurate thing that they did that if you notice any of those scenes that are they show
somebody getting receiving a business card, they're
like, even the old actor, he takes the card from Philip
and he's like, he breeds it with intensity.
You know, it's just like, oh, okay.
So they were like beingate accurate with like little
you know, cultural things, you know, I like that that was very interesting.
But yeah, like, I agree with Justin.
Brendan Frazier is just
like a tour de force as far as acting goes.
He He's done it all.
He's done the franchise action stuff.
He's done the comedy
He's done the dramas, you know, he could do it all.
You know, he's and the fact that he doesn't get the respect that he he deserves, well, he has.
He got he got the Oscar for the whale.
So he does, he did get his flowers.
So I think that's important that he got his flowers.
But I still do feel like he he still needs to
be given more roles than he does today.
You know, he should be in like more films
But then again, it could be his choice, too.
Like some people like want to, you know, just do things
that make him like, make them feel good and make sense, you know, to them.
And that might be what Brendan Fraaser does.
He doesn't want to do the action franchises anymore.
He doesn't want to do the comedies anymore.
He probably just wants to do these kind of these kinds of roles.
Personal project.
Sorry.
Exactly.
Personal apolog.
But yeah, anyways, I give this a
film a four out of five and you can find me at Daily Dares.
Thank you, Alex.
Arnold.
Final thoughts, my friend.
I' working people finding, and then you know comes after that.
This guy.
Oh.
I really love this movie.
And once again, I want, I just got to say, I want to give a shout out
to Jammin 99.5 and chasing Martinez for hooking me up and also..
I think you actually worked there, by the way.
Well, you know, you're secretly a, you're working as a DJ at night, aren't you?
Can we get an ad or something?
Like, on the, like, can we get Chase like, can you do something for us?
I think Arnold is getting paid
but he's not letting us know.
He's like, actually just tucking the money away.
He's pocking it and it should be coming going to the podcast, you jerk.
I think it's Peola, right, Arnold?
Paola?
Pote?
You offer them something from your work.
They give you free tickets.
You offer them the nurses's station.
They give you free tickets.
No, I'm kidding.
No.
Like I said earlier, you know, it's always best to tell the truth
because the truth will always come out.
Well, but Tony Montana?
But to finish up about the shout
out to Jammin 995, I was really just lucky.
I was caller number nine.
And I just, you know, when you have two
phones to try and call and you got to be talented enough to try and,
you know, to call and do it.
You're the only two calls coming through.
There was one time where I was calling number nine
and then I hung up on it because I got mixed up.
I was like, ah ha!
But, uh, but anyways,
um, yeah, shout out for the hookup um on the movie.
I did see it a while back, so a lot of it, you know, was,
uh, recall for me, but really, really great movie.
And and going back to about being honest, like I mentioned
in our group chat, like, oh, I watched the movie.
I wanted to say more, but then I was like, oh, no, save it for the for the podcast
And, and then Chris, uh, he had, he had texted me because,
you know, this was his choice, him and Kayla's choice.
And I was like, oh, so you watched a movie, like good job.
I think you were trying to get something out of me, but I get
mentioned there that that I did not cry
To be honest, I cried twice.
Okay knew it.
Which parts made you cry?
One of the parts with Mia, and then
the part with the Kikui, Kikua.
Yeah.
Kikuli.
Yeah.
I mean, I was so happy when when he took him
to that, when they went
on that mission and then to see him like
digging, and at first I thought he like, oh, he's like losing his memory.
Is he just doing something crazy?
But then, you know, he realized like, oh, no, he's digging something up.
And then, and then it's like,
get all choked up.
And then, um, yeah, that was, uh,
it, it made me think about a conversation that
I had with a good friend before.
He's also here on the podcast, Chris,
about just about like our memory and like,
gosh, just what uh, how tragic it is.
Like, you know, you know, because because he's he's talking about like while I still have
my memory and while I'm still able to recall and remember things
and just, just, um, how tragic and sad it is like when someone does
um, so sort of another, you know,
um issue thing that that
this movie brings up.
I just love love it all, how, you
know, it can really bring up conversations, good conversations,
needed conversations like this, that people tend to sweep under the rugug and not talk about
It's not healthy.
And you look at, you know, you
wonder why, I mean, it's not the main reason, but there's
loneliness, and all these things
I feel really contribute to people,
you know, committing suicide or just
not dealing with things and it's not good for them.
It's not good for the people around them.
And I really love that this movie touches
on that, but there's also a lot of really high
moments and happy moments and just
just really, really beautiful.
My private chat's kind of going, wow.
They're crazy.
I don't know.
Oh, that private chat.
They're saying they're like, hey, but there's only a couple baddies in there.
Only Yeah, only a couple.
It's too bad you're not going to Japan.
Yeah.
One of these days.
First things first, I got to get my passport.
So, um You and I, you and I, you and I will go, Arnold.
Yeah.
I really love this movie.
I want to watch it again.
We give it a four and a half out of five
Love this movie.
What's stopping me from giving the other half a full five out of five?
I don't know.
First, tell us where can people find you.
Oh, y'all can find me at Horny Calgo everywhere.
Nice.
Well
We did it, Arnold.
It's that time of the show.
It's my favorite part of the show.
I think you know it's coming, Arnold.
It's Time for the Arnold Sn ameter.
Oh, that's going to be a classic one day.
You know what?
I like it.
I like it.
Every single time.
It's just so good.
Every time it's so good.
AI could never.
Arnold, what is your snoozeza
meter ranking, my friend?
I have to
I'm trying to remember.
Well, last week, I watched it last re-watched it last week.
And
it was a busy week.
I mean, the past couple of weeks I have been really busy for me.
I was just been tired.
I feel like I'm barely recovering from the last two weeks.
And that night that we watched it,
I think I had a salad, but
I was, I was fighting it.
I was fighting.
I was fighting the sleep.
You're fighting the salad?
Yeah.
And it was it was so delicious and so well tossed too.
And like Who tossed two?
Who tossed two?
Oh, the salad tossy or do you toss the salad?
No, I always toss the salad.
Do you have tomatoes?
Chef.
Oh, no, but there was a lot of cheese in it.
I tossed it with cheese.
What was it?
blue?
What kind of cheese?
It was feta.
Parmesan.
I don't.
Parmesan.
Gotcha.
Feta is so much better..
Butter Better, good.
My wife doesn't like feta because
she thinks it smells like vomit.
Now, this might change you guys's mind out about feta cheese.
No, I like cheese.
Blue cheese smells like feet.
Yeah.
I love.
Arnold.
I mean, blue cheese.
What do we think?
Oh, I'd say a half C.
Oh, oh.
Three times.
I give it a half Z.
But I feel like when
I rewatch it, I'm going to cry even more and fall in love with the movie even more.
So And nap even more.
I'll have recovered even more.
So, yeah, if you check
my letter, I haven't rated it yet on the letterbox, but if you check it,
maybe by the time that this episode comes out, it might be a five out of five on there.
So that's all.
That's all.
I'm also Arnie Colleg on there.
But that's me, last but not least, but best for last.
BTZ2B. Well, thank you for that, Arnold.
On your mind.
So this is what I wrote for a letterbox.
This is a quietly affecting film that hits hard precisely because of how relatable its core theme of loniness is.
No matter where you live, that sense of disconnection feels universal.
And the film leans into that with surprising tenderness.
Brendan Fier plays a struggling American actor a drift in Japan,
taking whatever work he can get, which makes his fish out ofw existence
he even more isolating and real.
He's not chasing passion.
He is surviving.
That's what makes his roles within the story, acting as a surrogate father
to a young girl and a stand in a journist for an aging actor,
so thematically resonant because he is constantly performing connection while craving something genuine.
The film doesn't shy away from heartbreak, especially in moments like having to tell Mia he's leaving
only for her to discover the truth about who he really is, or
the quiet devastation of the older actor's death, but it still manages
to land on a hopeful note about the fleeting yet meaningful bonds we form.
Frier brings a soft, deeply vulnerable presence to the role,
grounding the film in sincerity and making every emotional beat feel
earned rather than manipulative.
And that's my review I give us four stars on Letterbox.
You can find me on Letterbox that Boot Too big.
You can find the show, the never see podcast everywhere else
We are on TikTok, Instagram, Threads, Blue Sky, Facebook, X. Visit our website.
Never seen at Podcast.com.
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Subscribe to us on Spotify, Apple, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts from.
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If you like the show, leave us a review.
Sh it, subscribe.
Big thanks to Mr. Kyle Maps and a Burn cycle for our intro and outro music.
You can follow Kyle on Instagram at selfies underscore underscore and underscore pets.
Thanks to me, Mr. HLP for the Arnold Snoozaer music.
Thanks for listening.
Any final thoughts from the gentleman and lady?
No, no final thoughtss?
Wow.
Okay.
Tough cryd.
Make sure to follow us.
Make sure to follow us.
please, please do.
If you need to rent anything, rent my heart.
Yes.