Rent, the show that in 1996 gave voice to a Broadway generation, has finally become an energetic, passionate, and touching movie musical. Based loosely on Puccini's La Bohème, it focuses on the year in the life of a group of friends in New York's East Village--"bohemians" who live carefree lives of art, music, sex, and drugs. Well, carefree until Mark, an aspiring filmmaker (Anthony Rapp), and Roger, an aspiring songwriter (Adam Pascal), find out they owe a year's rent to Benny (Taye Diggs), a former friend who had promised them free residence when he married the landlord's daughter. Roger has also attracted the attention of his downstairs neighbor, Mimi (Rosario Dawson), while Mark's former girlfriend, Maureen (Idina Menzel), has found a new romance in a lawyer named Joanne (Tracie Thoms). Philosophy professor Tom (Jesse L. Martin) finds his soul mate in drag queen Angel (Wilson Jermaine Heredia). But because this is the late-'80s, the threat of AIDS is always present.
The remarkable thing about Rent the movie is that nearly 10 years after the show debuted on Broadway, six of the eight principals return in the roles they originated. They're a bit older than would be ideal for their characters, but they do have the advantage of having learned the show directly from creator Jonathan Larson (who died of an aortic aneurysm while the show was in previews), plus they started young--we're not exactly talking Sarah Brightman and Michael Crawford here. Alongside a polished performance like Rapp's--sometimes observer-commentator, sometimes participant in two of the score's showstoppers, "The Tango Maureen" and "La Vie Boheme"--the two new additions (Thoms in place of Fredi Walker, Dawson in place of the edgier Daphne Rubin-Vega) slip comfortably into the ensemble; the pivotal Dawson makes a seductive case as Mimi when she tempts Roger in the mesmerizing "Light My Candle" or burns up the stage of the Catscratch Club in "Out Tonight." Moviegoers who have an aversion to people who break into song while walking down the street probably won't have their minds changed by Rent (even if they are singing rock songs), and the gritty subject matter and lack of big-name stars make it unlikely to cross over to general audiences the way Chicago did. But fans of musicals should find "Seasons of Love" as stirring as ever, and the show's passionate admirers--the "Rentheads"--probably couldn't have wished for a more sympathetic director than Rent fan Chris Columbus, or a more faithful representation of the show they love. --David Horiuchi

Anyone who likes musicals.

The song La Vie Boheme, Out Tonight, and Light My Candle. Don't really know why but I enjoyed these songs the most!

After seeing the movie I looked up some info online. I realized they had cut one of the songs completely, it was called Contact. Anyway nowhere on the DVDs did they explain why that one song was left out. Other parts that had been cut atleast had a reason as to why they where taken out.

The one thing that made me really angry is on the special features DVD, there is a special on Jonathan Larson, and RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF IT it has this part where they reference other musicals and it says 'now available on DVD. This doesn't happen tactfully either, it happens right in the middle of a documentary on this guy.

Go watch the special features

All emotions! One minute you'll be happy the next you'll be crying. But while watching it, they will turn into happy tears :) Ends with a very positive note.

That's the great part, all but two of the original main characters came back! You don't have the disappointment of some of the others where you have to adjust and get use to the new people.

It's a great story with great music. It will stay in your head for weeks!

I think that anyone who likes musicals should watch this movie. I advise you to watch the feature on Jonathan Larson. I also advise everyone to watch the movie with commentary after you finish watching it through the first time. You'll appreciate the movie a lot more if you do that.

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Created Mar 06, 2006 at 5:33am • Submit your own review...