Rent a Friend

Rent a Friend is a satirical accusation on modern day "consumentism". But that criticism is never annoying, the movie never wants to give a new morale. After all, it is a comedy. And a funny one. Arthur offers people in Holland's 2000 to hire him as a True Friend. He starts his own company and it becomes a huge success. At first it all looks a bit unbelievable, but along the film you realize today's society could be that crazy and you would sure believe it all would became true, some day. Some people rated this film with a 1. They are probably the people this movie is all about: people with a lot of luck, who made big money and can only talk about money since that day. And have lost their sense of humor somewhere along that way. Because this movie is one of the funniest movies from Holland in the last five years.

Am I really the first, and so far only person to comment on this film? This only goes to show how unjustly ignored (by the public, not the press) this film is/was.

The idea on which Rent-a-friend is based is brilliant. Haven't we all at one time or another longed for a friend to suit our every (non-sexual) need?

Yes, the acting is at times somewhat wooden, but that only adds to the whole comedic situation in my opinion. Yes, the dialogues are cheesy, sometimes verging on the ridiculous, but I would only describe that as being 'camp' rather than bad writing.

The situations in which friend Alfred finds himself are often hilarious. (Or is it that only a Dutch person can laugh about a man seeking a friend to watch German soccer with?). The whole development of Alfred's ploy to make money to impress Moniek into a multi national operation is still believable, and like I said before, funny.

And funny is what a comedy should be.

Rent a friend is lighthearted, a bit over the top, but certainly not worse than a lot of so called comedies we get to see most of the time. I recommend it. Even if it is on video, because the film has long left the theatres.

In this age where people live mostly in isolation emotionally, there really is the yearn for a friend in need from the bottom of most people's hearts. This movie starts off in a seemingly ridiculous way, but in the end you'd think, hey, I'd like to rent a friend some time... I'd definitely recommend this video -- it's dazzling funny with substance.

Everybody seems to think that this movie is funny and well-acted and stuff. Let me assure you: it is not! Just because it is a little better than the average dutch movies, doesn't mean that it is a GOOD movie. I saw it after reading all this reviews at IMDb. All those actors look like if they are acting in a soap-show. Yeah, it's all about that, but it is not meant to look like it all the time... So, don't watch this movie, it's a waste of your time, if you want to see a dutch movie, watch LEK!

I haven't seen that many good Dutch movies. And after seeing the dreadful COSTA! which has the same producers as this one, I really did not think it would be okay. But IT IS! It took me a few minutes to get into the story, but once the guy starts his own company the story gets really funny. I ended up really liking the movie, especially the scenario, which is truly brilliant! Humour comes in different forms (from Nutty Professor to Clerks), but this was truly unique. It wasn't haha funny, nor was it woeha! funny. It was more like 'mmm, wow'-funny. You'll only understand when you see the movie....