Rent a Friend

2000
1h 30m

IMDb RATING

YOUR RATING

In Rent a Friend the talented painter ARTHUR is suffering from an artist's block. Alfred does not bother about becoming rich and famous. He sticks to painting bright coloured Mexican hats. A... Read allIn Rent a Friend the talented painter ARTHUR is suffering from an artist's block. Alfred does not bother about becoming rich and famous. He sticks to painting bright coloured Mexican hats. Alfred's total lack of ambition increasingly irritates his girlfriend MONIEK. Moniek is a s... Read allIn Rent a Friend the talented painter ARTHUR is suffering from an artist's block. Alfred does not bother about becoming rich and famous. He sticks to painting bright coloured Mexican hats. Alfred's total lack of ambition increasingly irritates his girlfriend MONIEK. Moniek is a successful writer of a popular Dutch soap opera and she is continuously accusing Alfred of ... Read all

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.9/10

748

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 2 nominations total

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User reviews10

6.9748

Featured reviews

8lulu88

A ridiculously true portrayal of yearnings for friendship

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.

8greatgonzo

Funniest Dutch movie in years!!!

After having seen Rent-a-Friend for the first time (at the Rotterdam Film Festival), the smile at my face didn't disappear for hours. THIS MOVIE IS REALLY FUNNY!!! And there aren't lots of FUNNY Dutch films (except 'Flodder' and 'Abel' (both 1986) or perhaps Terstall's previous movie, 'Based on a Novel'). And wasn't a comedy -first of all- supposed to be funny?

Of course, Terstalls films all have certain things in common. For example, they are -like a cabaret show- more based on fragements and funny scenes than at a great story. The same in Rent-a-Friend. BUT in this film it doesn't matter, because the basic idea (friendship for sale) is simply brilliant.

9p_dekoning

A friendly accusation

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.

10unitedsapiens

introspection

This Film perfectly deals with human psycology, needs and wants, related to Friendship.

We all feel the need to share, to express ourself, and maybe even more, we are in need to feel "recieving our expression is recieved" by other's. In search of our Self, we need others, we need friends; yet when we consider their "opinions" ragarding us as true, the I (my self) is lost!

We can feel lost when we have no friend, thus "how to get one?" What is friendship? What are friends for?; (mis)use of friendship? ethics? Have you - the viewer - investigated the use of uselesness already? What are your mental conditions you live in.

Yes, they (all involved in this movie) were able to bring to us, the sadness behind experiencing all (false and true) aspects, with ease and laughter. Cult for a cocooned society !

4guitarjoa

A typical dutch, bad-acted comedy

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!

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Trivia
After a string of low-budget successes (Hufters & hofdames (1997), De boekverfilming (1999)), this was director Eddy Terstall's most expensive movie at the time, with a budget of EUR600,000. He was promised a fee of EUR150,000 for writing and directing, but he stated that he never got it, after one of the investing companies went bankrupt during production.