Rent
Movie Review: Rent
Stars (Out of 10): 9.5
One Word Summary: Captivating Movie Details: MPAA RATING: PG-13 for mature thematic material involving drugs and sexuality, and for some strong language Starring Rosario Dawson, Taye Diggs, Wilson Jermaine Heredia, Jesse L. Martin, Idina Menzel, Adam Pascal, Anthony Rapp, and Tracie Thoms GENRE(S): Drama | Musical | Romance WRITTEN BY: Steve Chbosky DIRECTED BY: Chris Columbus RELEASE DATE: Theatrical: November 23, 2005 RUNNING TIME: 135 minutes Relevant Sites: Shopping: "Rent" Review: Jonathan Larson's Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winning play comes to life vibrantly on the screen. Starring many of the same actors who appeared in the play when it first hit Broadway, Rent tells the story of a group of friends over the course of one year525,600 minutes. We see the film, like the play, through the eyes of our nerdy narrator, Mark, as he attempts to make a documentary about struggling with life, love, and AIDS in New York City in 1989. His friend and roommate Roger is numb to life and the love of his downstairs neighbor Mimi. The love of Mark's life, Maureen, left him for a successful lawyer, Joanne, and his good friend Tom Collins has just fallen in love with the transgendered Angel. It is extremely difficult to adapt a musical into a movie. On Broadway, Rent took place in basically one location; Chris Columbus had to create new locations for each scene throughout the entire script. He takes enough liberty to make Rent a good movie without toying with what made it such a prolific and beloved play, and the result is a film that is as captivating visually as it is musically. Columbus isn't usually thought of as a tremendously gifted visual director, but in Rent his cinematography and location selections truly make the movie. Even more importantly, they transfer the audience into his reality; a reality where it isn't odd that characters sing out their frustrations (because isn't that always the most awkward part of musicals). Excuse me if this is sacrilege, but through Columbus' eyes, Rent is an even better movie than it is a play. The stage creates a distance between the characters and the audience which Columbus eliminates. Though it sounds odd, the characters are more real, the issues more immediate, and the emotions more intimate with actors being projected onto a flat screen than they are with live actors performing on stage. Columbus brings us closer to these characters than Broadway ever did, and we're more moved because of it. Six of the film's eight major characters were members of the play's original cast (with Rosario Dawson and Tracie Thoms being the exceptions). For the most part, this choice succeeds as more than just a sentimental nod to the actors that made these roles famous (and which, in part, made them famous). Acting on film is very different from acting on stage however; facial gestures that can't be seen past row D become apparent to the entire theatre, and Adam Pascal and Wilson Jermaine Heredia, both of whom have virtually no screen experience, should have been recast as a result. Jesse L. Martin, known mainly for his role as Detective Green on Law & Order, has a spectacular voice, as do Taye Diggs (who showed off his musical chops in 2002's Chicago), and Anthony Rapp. Idina Menzel, who recently won a Tony for her performance in Wicked, delivers perhaps the best overall performance by a supporting actress of the year. The Bottom Line is that Rent is one of the best movies of the year. Some of the songs have been retooled minimally, but all of your favorites (from 'Seasons of Love to 'Tango: Maureen to 'La Vie Boheme to 'Take Me or Leave Me) are just as memorable as ever. The cast is terrific and director Chris Columbus brings a vision of New York and of these characters that is absolutely spectacular. Go out and see it, and remember, no day but today!
Jonathan Larson (musical book music and lyrics) 
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