Lucky enough to be given a free screening pass for one my most antici…pated movies of the entire year, I went and saw RENT last night. And here’s what I thought:
RENT opens in silence, but then, when you hear the first few notes of “Seasons of Love”, it strikes you hard; for you realize you are about to experience something different. Either different because you have never heard this song before; or different, because this is not the way RENT is supposed to open. It becomes apparent very quickly that Chris Columbus has changed some things; moved songs, removed songs, reworked story boards, and refocused characters. But don’t worry; overall it works.
Every song, every scene, you will feel even closer to the musical that so many have loved since its debut on Broadway, almost ten years ago. While some of you will scoff at the changes, and may see them as a detriment to the overall feeling the musical was meant to portray (the bohemian spirit of living for the day, and the undying sense of true love), fear not, because the spirit of RENT is whole and intact. While watching the movie, my overwhelming sense was the creation of a third dimension; to both the characters and the scenes, either of which may have been somewhat two dimensional in the stage version. The movie provides a visual landscape, that contextualizes many story elements that, while present on the stage, were limited by the nature of stage presentation. Overall, I felt the movie went deeper, and with that, it succeeded. It brought me back to the early nineties, and gives the viewer the effect of opening a time capsule, where they find grunge, poverty, spirit, and youth tucked inside. The movie stays true to the original intentions of the play, and establishes the feeling of the early nineties wonderfully; it even feels like this movie was made in the early nineties.
As for the songs, every song was re-recorded with the new cast, many of which were original cast members. I think that this is one of the strongest points of this movie, mainly because it takes something that was crafted so long ago, and updates it; both for the inclusion of new cast members, as well as to provide a grittier sound for the movie. The new versions of the songs fit the movie better, because they are more raw, and portray the new dimensions of these characters more effectively. I will admit that the differences are very noticeable at times, but after you begin to immerse yourself in the movie, the part of you that liked that show will tell the part of you that is overanalyzing every change to stop.
With that being said, many of the transitional and anecdotal “songs” are completely removed, or simply presented as spoken text, which unfortunately leads to an undesired effect. Those songs, at least in the play, were used as clever stage transitions, to distract your attention away from prop changes or character shuffles; whereas in the film, they have transplanted those songs into halfhearted attempts at transition, which simply to not translate into the movie medium. The effect, is a choppy feel, where the movie seems to start and stop several times, with the beginning and ending of each major song. As is true with any musical, the songs tell the story, but relying only on the songs to present the story in a movie format is the weakness that shines through in this film. Thankfully, this choppy movement and lack of transition seems to come to a stop somewhere halfway through the film, with the rest of the movie flowing much more smoothly.
Another byproduct of this lack of transition and choppy-ness, takes away the viewer’s sense and awareness of the timeline in the movie. The story follows a group of friends over the period of one year, or 525,600 minutes. The movie, like the play, does fast forward through most of that year, focusing heavily on the beginning and ending of each respective part, but during several moments of the film, you question just which one of those 525,600 minutes you are watching… There is a real evidence that there is any transition taking place, which leads to some confusion as to what is happening and when. Worst of all, the transitions that are used to indicate the passage of that year are inconsistent. There are times when you can’t tell what time of year they are in, or if you have somehow missed something, and they are actually a month or more in the past. Thankfully, this is minimal, but is definitely a major flaw.
Given its weaknesses, the performances, in both song, and acting, are brilliant. The undeniable stand out performance in this film is Jesse L. Martin, a.k.a., Tom Collins. His presence is captivating, and his singing ability as obviously strengthened with age (Martin was in the original Broadway cast). One of the most memorable performances, is during Angel’s funeral, where Martin reprises the love song they shared; “I’ll Cover You”. It is intense, to say the leas.
The new cast members, Rosario Dawson and Tracie Thoms fall comfortably in with the rest of the crew, and show their acting chops, as the new Mimi and Joanne, respectively. Thoms, in particular stands out, in my favorite scene from the movie, where her and her partner Maureen sing, “Take Me or Leave Me”. I have always loved that song, and the translation to the screen is energetic and wonderful. I walked away singing that song for the rest of the evening.
My final note, is simply to point out the new song that was added; in order to challenge those of you that go see the movie, to find it. It was woven in so perfectly, that it seemed like it was there all along. Taking on something as beloved as RENT was a huge task, and despite some weaknesses, I believe that Columbus reached the peak. I feel like those that see the movie will undoubtedly compare it to the musical, but will probably be surprised that, in spite of its slight differences, it still holds the heart of everything Larson was trying to portray in RENT; suffering, longing, emotion, love, togetherness, friendship, and most importantly, living for the day. I give RENT five out of six stars, because this movie proves that there is definitely ‘no day but today’.
RENT favorites:
I’ll Cover You (all versions)
Take Me or Leave Me
La Vie Boheme
Seasons Of Love
Ok, even though I have been labelled a “hater” by some people (you know who you are) I am definitely going to go see the movie.
I love Jesse L. Martin and not just because of all that Law and Order nonsense.
Good review BTW, Entertainment Weekly might be knocking on your door. ; )
Jeff was only labeled a hater because he vomited when I told him how psyched I was to see it. He’s going to see it after Turkey dinner.
I’m glad you got to see it early!!!
Take Me or Leave Me was just amazing. I really think it was the best translated song.
I agree with the “lost in transition” thing. I’m wondering if they edited out a lot and that’s why it seemed a bit choppy.
BTW. Why the hell AREN’T you writing for EW?
Um… Jeff and Ted, just so you know, I am SOOO blushing right now. Thanks for liking my review. I would LOVE to write for a living, but since I haven’t gotten my BIG BREAK, I am glad that at least some people out there get to enjoy it (you guys!). Thanks again, expect more reviews!
WOW is all I have to say! That was an amazing review! I can not wait to see the film. My big sis is having her baby tomorrow (or today when you read this) so I am not going to get to see it until next week. I am so glad to hear from you that it is playing as well in the (movie) theatre as it does on stage.
Thank you so much for the amazing review, have a wonderful T-Day Duane!
would you believe that i’ve never actually seen the musical? i have no idea what i’ve been waiting for….
Sweet! OK - I’m definitely going to see RENT this weekend. For sure. I remember when I saw it on stage for the first time in the mid-90’s. I had never seen anything like it before, coming from a small town and having no concept of the larger world. I was blown away.
I love this time of year when it comes to movies. SO many good ones - two nights ago I saw Shopgirl and tonight I’m going to see Walk the Line!
First of all: SO jealous. I won’t be seeing it until next week.
Glad to hear that you liked it, though. Despite my excitement, I admit I have also been a little worried about how this will translate into a movie. It’s a shame about the choppy feel you describe… but at least it doesn’t overtake the movie, from what you’ve said. I’ll be interested to see how much spoken dialogue there is relative to song. I remember when I saw the movie of Evita, I was amazed that there was almost no spoken dialogue. I thought that movie worked very well.
And… a new song? That makes me a little nervous… but I guess I’ll just have to wait and see what I think! Oh, and am I right in assuming one of the songs they cut was Contact?
Duane, your post yesterday about having trepedations about writing for kissatlanta is bullshit, sorry. Obviously there is no reason to doubt. We both have to stop being self-depricating it seems! WOW that was an awesome reivew! See, what I said yesterday was true, you really get into the nitty-gritty instead of just glossing over things like most reviewers do. That was one of the most in depth and coherent reviews I’ve read in a long time. You made various points and explained every one of them well. WTG!!
I have never seen the musical. Ted lent me his RENT CD and booklet and I’ve been listening to it quiete a bit, even moreso lately. I cannot wait to see this film tonight!
IMA SO JEALOUS! I can’t wait to see it tonight! Have a safe Turkey Day!
free screening pass? thankyouthankyouthankyou. and bow.
i’m sorry i wasn’t able to make it. i can’t wait until i can drag my boyfriend kicking and screaming to the theater with me.
rent is my favorite musical ever. i can’t wait to see this!
Oh. My. GOD!
I can not take it one more second. If I see one more post about Rent I may literally throw my computer out the window.
Congrats on being the 19872638471652874389472376363rd blogger to review Rent today.
Me too also –> jealous!
Duane,
I have no feelings one way or the other for RENT (other than agreeing with Vince that I could do without reading 19872638471652874389472376363 posts about it), but I will say I think you should do more movie reviews. This was good.
Well, just for that, I’ll have to make writing a review priority #1 after I see it.
And at last, I have caught a few spare moments in my oh so busy schedule to finally add my piece of mind to this. LOVED LOVED LOVED LOVED LOVED LOVED LOVED this movie. Why? Becaue I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE (ok one second 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, ok 7) LOVE (had to make sure my count was right) the musical RENT. I do admit, it did seem choppy, but Duane’s review is right (and after reading it Duane you should work for EW you are awesome I completely agree with your review) the story was told through music and all the needed songs were there. However, IF I HAD DIRECTED THIS MOVIE, I would have included EVERYTHING one way or another, 3-4 hour movie why not? Forrest Gump, Titanic, and all those other not so great movies did it. And if you love RENT as much as I do, sitting that long would be worth it (I just do not suggest getting anything to drink before hand). And to the people who read 19872638471652874389472376363 post about rent. Get a life, I mean I love RENT, but I am not about sit down and read that many posts. I know how I feel about the musical and movie; however, I do not care how 19872638471652874389472376363 people feel about it, but I do care how Duane feels about it (hince why I am here typing and posting my comments) so yes this may seem hypocritical of what I just stated, but it’s Duane so it’s worth it.