When a filmmaker makes their big-screen debut, one element of success can immediately be discerned. That is their command of the cinematic arts. You either have it or you don’t. Dave Franco has it with aplomb with his The Rental. Like most horror/thrillers, scratch too close to the surface, and things might not add up. The suspension of disbelief can be quite high in that milieu.
Dan Stevens (recently seen stealing scenes in Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga) is Charlie, a California success story, who is heading to the Big Sur area of the state to a dream house that you probably guessed, was more nightmare than fantasy fulfillment. Joining him is his wife Michelle (Franco’s real-life wife Alison Brie), his business partner Mina (Sheila Vand), and Charlie’s little brother Josh (Jeremy Allen White). Oh, and Mina and Josh are a couple.
There’s a few, somewhat, unspoken conflicts that lie just beneath the surface and fester during our double date weekend getaway. First, there’s the whole Mina and Charlie dynamic. The pair work closely together, and the colleagues are so close that they literally finish each other’s sentences. There’s also a flirty banter between them that both Josh and Michelle are expected to be on board with (or seem to be). Yet when the topic is broached between Charlie and Mina’s significant others, one clearly gets the sense that there is a hint of jealousy on Michelle’s part and a major one with Josh towards his older brother’s relationship with his love.
Then, there’s the sibling rivalry between Josh and Charlie. As painted by Franco’s script (that he co-wrote with Joe Swanberg), this is something that gets brushed under the rug more often than not. The viewer firmly gets the sense that should there be any real conflict that arises, that brotherly bond could easily be tested and/or compromised.
Those both are important threads to this tapestry that could easily shred the Fab Four’s fabulous weekend should anyone pull at those pieces of story string. Given that this is a horror/thriller, that impending doom permeates everything almost immediately. There are some throw-away moments, or at least they seem that way. But for anyone who has seen their fair share of thrillers, it was almost laughable how some of these moments were like flashing signs for foreshadowing. Laying the groundwork for shock and awe is a tough task for a screenwriting team. One doesn’t want to be too obvious or oblivious to the goings-on of the forward-moving narrative. Yet, that room underneath the house that requires a key code in order to get in … something tells us that room will come in handy when it is needed later in the film.
The creepy, potentially racist, man in charge of renting his brother’s house and serving as its fix-it man too, was almost too easy of a target for ire. As the two couples drive up to Big Sur, Mina mentions that her application for the house was denied while her business partner was accepted an hour later. You just know that she’s going to mention it to Taylor (Toby Huss) as soon as she can, further making the uncomfortable factor shoot up. When the quartet returns from a seaside walk and there’s a telescope in the living room, Mina is the only one who is spooked by the fact that Taylor just marched into the house instead of leaving it on the front porch.
Is Taylor our antagonist? It seems pretty clear that he is, but perhaps he’s more just guilty of being creepy as something more nefarious could be at work here. This isn’t our first time down this avenue. Remember Dennis Quaid in The Intruder earlier last year? Well, probably not because not many of you saw that home invasion flick. Sometimes, the clearest culprit is someone who our protagonists spend too-little time focusing on while others grab their attention. The problem for films that exist in the guessing game realm of “who-done-it?” is that one can become too tricky for your own good. The Rental, when all is said and done, is not the film it thinks it is and that’s a problem.
The next James Bond (that’s what I call Dan Stevens and have been for months) threw caution to the wind and hit a grand slam in his Netflix comedy Eurovision. Here Stevens is a bit, purposefully, reserved. He seems constrained by a frustration that exists merely below the surface that goes from zero to sixty with not enough backstory to support it. Still, Stevens is a commanding presence and one can see his mind working as he mentally zig-zags.
Brie has a tall task. Her first-day characterization is minimal, just enough to get to know her. After a fateful first night at this mini-mansion overlooking the Pacific Ocean, Brie’s second day and night will be markedly different. The events, as they unfold in the third act, compel the actress to emotively turn on a dime. There’s a moment, sharing would be a spoiler, but it is one for the actress’ highlight reel. One can see why the director was so excited about what his wife could bring to the part. Again, the material comes up short for her, but there is a moment where she goes from zero-to-sixty back to zero that arises from what seems like a convoluted source, but Brie sells it.
Mina is the fuse and the powder keg. Although she stands up for what is right, she sets off a tsunami of disturbing fallout. How she is constructed is never fully feels as complete as was the characterization of Michelle in the screenplay. The actress bares her soul as Mina. Instead of the script rising to the talents of its ensemble, it gets bogged down in flippant clichés and character decision-making that never jives with what came before.
Sadly, The Rental falls into some tried and true tropes, such as “we’ll leave in the morning.” How has that gone for anyone who has uttered those words? The film is entertaining enough for some escapism meets major suspension of disbelief.
Grade: B-