Customer Reviews
Takes "Rent" To The Next Level 
2008-06-15
I'm one of the few musical lovers that think musicals are better on the small screen than they are on the live stage. Chris Columbus takes Rent, an already good musical, and makes a really good movie out of it that focuses on character rather than theatrics, letting the songs drive forward the plot and character development.
I'm not sure how Rent-fans, who are just as passionate as Star Wars and Buffy fans, will feel about this movie, so I won't speak for them in this review. I saw the stage version once, thought it was good enough but nothing that really captivated me, so I'll review this from the point of a movie lover. The introduction is a bit weak, but once Tom Collins (played by Jesse L. Martin, who gives the best performance in the movie) walks into Mark Cohen (Anthony Rapp) and Roger Davis's (Adam Pascal) apartment and introduces them to Angel (Wilson Jermaine Heredia), the plot starts rolling and never stops. The film does have weak points, such as the supposed main character Mark Cohen disappearing into the background halfway through the movie and becoming a supporting character for the rest of it as well as songs (especially the song at the diner) which last way, way too long.
Overall, it's a very well done movie that takes what Rent was and brings it to the next level. As far as musical adaptations, it's way ahead of Hairspray and will register not only with Rent fans, but also with people who like movies or musicals in general.
7/10
Viva La Vie Boheme and Rent 
2008-06-12
When `Rent' first took the stage at an off-Broadway theater in 1996 the history of theater instantly changed. Jonathan Larson composed the Pulitzer Prize winning revolutionary rock opera. Rent was loosely based on Puccini's opera `La Boheme'. Rent has been on Broadway for twelve years and will be closing September 7, 2008.
RENT is about eight starving artists living during the HIV/AIDS epidemic in 1989 living in the East Village in New York City. "Measuring their lives in love" the eight struggling bohemians must cope with poverty, illness, starvation, life, love and trying to pay off last year's and the current year's rent.
The eight friends are Mark Cohen (Anthony Rapp), a nerdy love-struck film producer who is trying to get his big break. Rodger Davis (Adam Pascal) is a washed up songwriter with HIV whose girlfriend Amy recently died of AIDS. Mimi Marquez, the drug addicted dancer at The Catscratch Club who falls in love with Rodger. Maureen Johnson (Idina Menzel) is a bisexual outspoken performer who dumped Mark for a lawyer named Joanne Jefferson. Joanne (Tracie Thoms) is a lawyer who is sick of Maureen mooning over other men and women. Tom Collins (Jesse L. Martin) is a computer-age philosopher at NYU with AIDS who falls in love with Angel Dumott Schunard, a gay Drag Queen street performer who "provides a comfortable home for the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome" (Angel from "You Okay Honey?" song from Rent). Last but not least is Benjamin "Benny" Coffin III an old roommate of Mark, Collins, and Maureen who recently married Allison Grey of the Westport Greys and is now the landlord of Avenue A, who hopes to evict all the homeless from Alphabet City and build a cyber studio.
Directed by Chris Columbus (Known for Home Alone and Harry Potter) this powerful and riveting movie moves even the hardest of hearts and leaves everyone crying and with a feeling of hope. If I could give it a million stars instead of five I would! This is one of the best movies ever created and Jonathan Larson is a GENIUS!!! The acting is amazing and the singing is phenomenal times 5,25,600! Do yourself a favor and watch RENT!
WARNING: This movie is rated PG-13 for a reason. RENT includes a mature theme involving drugs and sexuality and strong language.
wonderful movie and service!!! 2008-06-09
The movie was shipped out the same day that I ordered it!!! It came in perfect shape!!!
Different 2008-06-06
I a musical with teeth that will bite. The movie will put you in places that the averge person don't want to know about or ever go. To put it simply it's real life with some singers.
" No Day But Today " 2008-05-21
I love, love this film. I have to say that it is better than the actual play. I saw the play in NYC when Joey Fatone was cast as "Mark" in August 2002. Joey was great. You could tell he really wanted to get into the part. I think he should do more plays. I fell in love with the characters since then. Rent is such a moving story. Roger and mimi are my two favorites. I only wish I could have gotten to seen Adam pascal on broadway. I love his voice. I think Manely pope was there when I went to see it at the theater. Not too sure. If you have a chance to go to the play in NYC ,I would go. you can truly see how amazing this story is. Rent is closing - last show September 17 th 2008 !!! if not the movie is just as good. buy this dvd.
No Day But Today 2008-04-06
"Rent" - Set in New York City's gritty East Village the revolutionary rock opera "Rent" tells the story of a group of bohemians struggling to live and pay their rent. "Measuring their lives in love" these starving artists strive for success and acceptance while enduring the obstacles of poverty illness and the AIDS epidemic. "Rent" is based on Jonathan Larson's Pullitzer and Tony Award winning musical one of the longest running shows on Broadway. The raw and reveting musical stars Rosario Dawson Taye Diggs Wilson Jermaine Heredia Jesse L. Martin Idina Menzel Adam Pascal Anthony Rapp and Tracie Thoms and is directed by Chris Columbus.System Requirements:Run Time: 135 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: MUSICALS/MUSICALS Rating: PG-13 UPC: 043396111554 Manufacturer No: 11155
Who knew 2008-04-05
I have never seen the play, i wasn't all that interested in Rent as a whole until i actually saw it. I fell in love with this instantly and wouldn't mind seeing the play sometime now. Just goes to show, never judge a book by its cover.
RENT IS MY LIFE! 2008-03-01
Rent is the most amazing and touching movie I have ever seen in my entire life! The songs, the characters and the story are all completely real. The songs are catchy, the characters are colorful, and the story is beautiful. This is the most beautiful movie I have ever seen and it is AMAZING!
Incredible strong points; major flaws 
2008-02-19
The musical RENT is a film adaptation of a Broadway play. I've recently seen a pretty dang good Chicago production of it. It's got no shortage of heart, lots of energy, and lots of laughs and tears. It's also got some weaknesses that are precariously close to being its death blow. Its flaws don't kill it, but they come close.
The performances are absolutely amazing. I don't have a single critical thing to say about any of the actors.
Musically, I know this music has made the global rounds and it's huge. I don't think there's anything bad to say about the musical score either.
But looking critically at RENT, both as a story and as a film, reveals glaring flaws that keep me personally from falling head-over-heels in love with it and becoming a full-fledged RENT-head. This story has some problems that are both unfortunate and major, paradoxically leaving me with a sense of disingenuousness. Which doesn't make sense considering its origin, where it came from, Larson. I shouldn't be able to call 'BS' on RENT and be justified, and yet I can.
RENT assumes rather than earns its authenticity.
RENT has an unflinching, unapologetic self-centeredness that both serves it and cripples it. It has devoted so much focus and effort into being Gen-X'y, bohemian, and anti-establishment, that it has overlooked having a genuine identity of its own. Its uniqueness is stereotypical. It's confined to its freedom. Its portrayal of village artists and photographers is obvious, clunky, one-dimensional, cliché. The film is far too self-congratulatory to even consider noticing this.
RENT is trying (plaintively?) to make its characters' last year on Earth a celebration, but the thing is, I feel like a terrible situation of tremendous gravity, urgency, and despair has been turned into something of a 3-ring circus. On some level I feel like I have to question how seriously this was meant to be taken. Only its origin saves it from being creatively bankrupt. The exact same story coming from any Hollywood writer would rightfully get burned at the stake. Ultimately, these decisions ARE Larson's prerogative. I guess that being homeless and your imminent AIDS-related death doesn't automatically require an uptight documentary-style treatment.
RENT's excessive prettiness is also a big detriment to the film's authenticity, honestly. These people are awfully beautiful to be homeless AIDS victims. These are all designer characters. Their appearance is a deliberate, calculated, manicured image designed to make the idea more digestible. I rather suspect some watch this so they can feel like they've adopted some of the suffering of an underprivileged group of people. Do those individuals spend any actual time with the homeless? Who's to say. This mentality has infected other visual aspects of the film, too. Everything is so manicured and staged it becomes false. Everything is designer and Hollywood and perfect, including--nay, ESPECIALLY the abandoned buildings and alleys. The cinematography is a technical masterpiece and everything happens much too perfectly for me to believe in the world of RENT. It's not to be unexpected in a musical, but the nature of the subject matter changes the game quite a bit. Would I apply that equally to all films everywhere? Unfortunately, we're in the territory of art criticism here and it's subjective--and context matters, so no. For instance, Chicago has all the exact same traits, but they work for the film it instead of against it. And, say, a maverick cop out to kick some butt lacking authenticity is an entirely different ball game than being fake about THIS.
The entire scene with Sarah Silverman is the epitome of what I'm talking about. It fails to be the stark contrast with the rest of the film that it's trying to be. Furthermore, the entire subplot is an absurd non sequitur, but that's beside the point. It's trying to contrast how perfectly neat and tidy this corporate world is with how free and loose the world of the rest of the film is, but the entire film is actually neat and tidy--the spontaneity and freedom are artificial. I don't buy it.
But thanks to the performances, damn, RENT sure does have a fire in its britches.
In a way, it is simultaneously justified and questionable to call this film fakey, as it is just Jonathon Larson's feelings on the subject rendered in musical form. It really has an energy to it, no denying that. It really challenges you to drop your hangups and relax and enjoy the ride.
I'm not a RENT-head, nor do I hate it. I don't think it's mediocre, canned, or kitsch. I don't think it's amazing or enlightening. Calling it pretentious isn't exactly fair, though there is a pretentiousness to it. I do, however, feel confident in saying both that it has flaws and has something to it.
So, how you feel about RENT will always come down to how deeply you connect to the characters and how much you're feeling the music. Is it an electrifying, heartbreaking celebration of life and love, or is it a mockery? Both cases could be made. My bottom line opinion: RENT is successful in spite of itself. The actors work harder than they should have to to sell a story that's working against them, confined by excessively stiff character molds--and they are so good, they pull it off. What's strong is incredibly strong. But to pretend its flaws didn't exist would be, for me, an intellectual suicide.
Seasons of Love 2008-02-15
The musical "Rent" was a phenomenon in the '90s. It served as an interesting period piece- all about the '80s and the destructive rise of AIDS. Its creator's premature death added luster to the updating of "La Boheme." The movie version of "Rent" is fascinating, considering it was directed by Chris Columbus of Home Alone&Harry Potter fame. Columbus sanitizes the drug use&promiscuity issues,making them sugar-coated and almost family-friendly. Columbus also renders such controversial issues as homosexuality normal,daring in a mainstream film.
"Rent" opens simply. On a bare stage,the cast sings the powerful "Seasons of Love." There are three parallel stories going on,making it more layered than the original La Boheme. Taye Diggs stars as an evil developer who wants to destroy an artists' collective to make way for corporate power. Maureen (Idina Menzel) is a performance artist,in a conflicted relationship with her girlfriend (Tracie Thoms) Jesse L. Martin stars as a gay philosopher whose life is saved by a drag queen named Angel. Adam Pascal stars as an aspiring songwriter,Roger,who encounters a stripper named Mimi (Rosario Dawson) Anthony Rapp stars as an aspiring filmmaker capturing the drama of life- from Maureen's protest to the support groups for those suffering from AIDS. There are musical highlights along the way,such as the hilarious "Tango Maureen",the hedonistic "La Vie Boheme" and the joyous ode to the Southwest,"Santa Fe." One of the best scenes is when Pascal is briefly in Santa Fe,among the canyons&before the St. Francis Cathedral (it is spectacular)
The story is complicated. Roger&Mimi deal with her heroin addiction,they break up&later reconcile. Maureen&her girlfriend have a lavish engagement,a falling-out,but they soon reconcile. The only couple that doesn't split is the professor&Angel. However,Angel dies from AIDS (while Mimi is miraculously healed of it) It's the gay couple that lasts--again,daring for a mainstream film. Homosexuality is presented in a normal way; Angel's gender ambiguity is treated as a fact of life,being called both "he"&"she" at his funeral.
"Rent" has catchy songs,spectacular production&a strong cast. Underneath its flashy&romantic facade,it's a thought-provoking musical. Rent is worth paying!
