{"id":14865,"date":"2020-09-10T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-09-10T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/?p=14865"},"modified":"2024-03-02T21:17:52","modified_gmt":"2024-03-03T05:17:52","slug":"review-rent-a-pal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/review-rent-a-pal\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Rent-A-Pal<\/i>"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Rent-A-Pal<\/em> is technically<\/em> set in 1990, but this throwback thriller is a reminder of how that turn-of-the-decade year was very much still the \u201880s, in every way that mattered. From its opening credits in that pixelated VCR font to vintage cans of Pepsi, writer and director Jon Stevenson\u2019s feature debut is steeped in the bygone era. It\u2019s initially nostalgic for anyone who grew up adjusting the tracking, but Rent-A-Pal <\/em>quickly jolts audiences out of that positive feeling. This is not Stranger Things<\/em> or It<\/em>; 40-year-old protagonist David (Brian Landis Folkins) doesn\u2019t have a group of best friends who go on adventures and fight evil. Instead, he merely wants someone \u2014 anyone \u2014 to help him out of his state of loneliness. While his methods for trying to find companionship are all decades-old, and VCR-based, the emotions at the core of Rent-A-Pal<\/em> don\u2019t feel that distant from 2020 and its digital solutions for human connection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

David spends practically every moment at home with his mother (Kathleen Brady), who suffers from dementia. His isolated life is consumed by caregiving, with video dating serving as his only avenue for meeting people. \u201cVideo Rendezvous\u201d and its VCR-enabled personal ads are like a proto-Tinder, with the fast-forward function serving as a swipe left. If David sees someone he likes, he contacts the agency and hopes she feels the same, but six months on the service haven\u2019t yet proven fruitful, and David\u2019s desperation is plain. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When he goes (in person!) to pick up a new set of VHSs of potential dates, David discovers a different video in the bin: \u201cRent-A-Pal.\u201d He brings it home, where pressing play introduces him to the tape\u2019s host, Andy (Wil Wheaton), who just wants to be friends. The video plays like a conversation, with Andy asking his audience questions and offering responses that make it seem like he\u2019s listening. He plays a game of Go Fish, tells a joke (that hits oddly close to home to Andy\u2019s experience), and raises a glass to his new friend. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Wil Wheaton as \u2018Andy\u2019 in Jon Stevenson\u2019s RENT-A-PAL. Courtesy of IFC Midnight. An IFC Midnight Release.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

David practically wears out the tape with obsessive repeated viewings, finding solace with someone who seems to care, taking every moment he can in front of the TV to get away from the challenges of attending to his often difficult mother. The combination of David\u2019s loneliness and Andy\u2019s odd companionship pickles him in his mother\u2019s basement, turning the man who initially seemed sweet into something sour. When David finally finds a match through \u201cVideo Rendezvous\u201d named Lisa (Amy Rutledge), he learns that his new \u201cpal\u201d doesn\u2019t like to be left alone either.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rent-A-Pal<\/em> is effectively unpleasant, but its shift in tone from uncomfortable, dark humor to something truly disturbing is rattling; some viewers, previously on board, might find more than they bargained for in its distressing \u2014 though not unexpected \u2014 third act. However, writer\/director Stevenson\u2019s concept does work, even if the script doesn\u2019t seem interested in parsing out the true nature of what is really going on with Andy, or if it\u2019s all in David\u2019s head. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The casting works well here too: Wheaton\u2019s trademark puppy dog eagerness curdles into something needier and more unpleasant, while the lesser-known Folkins excels at making David both sympathetic and scary. Producer Jimmy Weber\u2019s sinister synth score establishes both the unnerving mood and the vintage setting. His fellow producer Brandon Fryman\u2019s production design nails the look of a sad suburban house in the era, all captured by Scott Park\u2019s cinematography that stylishly zeroes in on the details (including some fun under-the-hood shots from inside the VCR). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Though Rent-A-Pal <\/em>has a scene at the most retro of spots \u2014 RIP roller rinks \u2014 its commentary on how isolation and digital influence can mutate a man feels rooted in the present. There\u2019s a line to be drawn from \u201cRent-A-Pal\u201d and video personal ads to Reddit and Tinder, with the craving for connection \u2014 and the dangers when someone can\u2019t find it \u2014 serving as a depressing constant across the decades.\u00a0\"\"\/<\/p>\n\n\n\n

B<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

“Rent-A-Pal” is out Friday in select theaters and on demand. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rent-A-Pal is technically set in 1990, but this throwback thriller is a reminder of how that turn-of-the-decade year was very […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":594,"featured_media":14870,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[340],"tags":[1098,162,1436],"class_list":["post-14865","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-movie-reviews","tag-movie-review","tag-movies","tag-reviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14865","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/594"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14865"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14865\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22730,"href":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14865\/revisions\/22730"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14870"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14865"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14865"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14865"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}