A couple of disclaimers first: 1) This is a thread to discuss the new movie version of the musical Rent, not insult people who like it in the first place. We all know Rentheads can be annoying to people who hate the show, but if you came here just to criticize those people, please click your “Back” button right now.
And 2) I am a pit musician in New York (although not for Rent). Therefore, theatre is my life, and this show is one of my all-time favorites. So I say all the following with love.
spoilers abound
What a freaking disappointment. I have to wonder if Chris Columbus has ever even seen the show… Let’s take it song by song, shall we?
You start the movie with “Seasons of Love”. Okay, whatever. That’s fine, I can live with that. All that beautifully written recitative (with the guitar tuning, etc.) is gone, but okay, whatever. But um, why was the cast standing in spotlights and singing to an empty theatre? I’m sorry, is this a movie, or what? If you’re going to commit, then commit already.
Then the song “Rent”. Not bad, I must admit. They still had me at that point. The fire out the windows was cool. Although I don’t think the entire neighborhood needed to be singing, but I can let that go.
“You’ll See”. Not sure why Benny was doing a tightrope walk on the curb, but not a bad scene.
“One Song Glory”. Okay, so they show us April. Pretty cool, if you ask me. Oh but wait a minute, didn’t she die? She killed herself, you know. Hey Chris, maybe you could show us that or something.
“Light My Candle” was cute, and I must say that Mimi and Joanne were my favorites, which is odd because they were the only two not in the original cast. I’m just talking about acting though. Sound-wise I think everyone sounded fantastic. Right on. But looks-wise, mmmmm… not so much. Adam’s hair made him look like Tom Hulce from Amadeus, and Anthony looked about 40. But acting-wise, Mimi and Joanne rocked my world.
“Today 4 U”… I can’t really comment on that song because I fell asleep. Okay, not really, but you get my point.
“Tango: Maureen” was another highlight. One of my favorite songs anyway, I thought this hit the mark (no pun intended). And I might add that Idina looked marvelous in that red dress.
“Life Support” and “Out Tonight” were decent. By this time I was still on the fence about whether I was enjoying myself or watching a major disappointment, I must admit.
“Another Day” and “Will I”… whatever. Eh.
Aaaaannnddd then we hit “Santa Fe”. Um, okay, let’s get on the subway, that’s cool. Hey, it’s New York. Great, get on the subway. But why is Collins doing a freaking pole dance? And why does he have this stupid grin on his face the entire time?
And it was all downhill from there… “I’ll Cover You”… give me a break. Pracically skipping, hand in hand down the sidewalks (which, by the way, the sun was shining and there was not a snowflake in sight. On Christmas. In New York.).
“Over the Moon” was decent, but not as powerful on film as in person and unfortunately was sizeably cut. However, seeing the riots actually happening was a great touch, I must say.
“La Vie Boheme” was probably the best scene, IMO. And why? Because it was just like the stage version. Not to say I can’t enjoy it if it’s different… it’s just that they stayed true to the story, lyrics, motives, etc., and therefore it works.
Which brings up another frustration: In addition to all the cut songs and moments (all the "Tune Up"s, “On the Street”, “We’re Okay”, “Christmas Bells”, “Contact”, “Halloween”, and “Goodbye Love” are all gone, not to mention parts of songs that were cut), they also downsized Benny’s part, turning him into just a plain bastard instead of a developing character who actually goes through a journey. In addition, I guess someone thought this shouldn’t all happen in one night like in the musical, which necessitated lyric changes. For example, Collins now says “Gentlemen, our benefactor on this Christmas Day, whose charity is only matched by talent, I must say”… A small change, but it bugged the hell out of me because it wasn’t necessary.
Anyway, back to the songs. “Take Me or Leave Me” is where they lost me for good. Vocally brilliant. But hey Chris, I have a question: WHY THE FUCK DID YOU SET IT AT MAUREEN AND JOANNE’S ENGAGEMENT PARTY?? You must be joking. Do you honestly think Joanne’s parents would support that? Did women even get engaged in 1989 (as the disappointingly non-singing voiceover told us this was taking place)?
“Without You” was pretty cool visually, I’ll admit.
I would have liked to have seen Angel dying more. I mean, Collins is holding him on the subway, and the very next shot is the coffin. I didn’t have time to process that he was that sick (I was trying to watch it as if it were the first time I’d seen it) before he was dead, and therefore I wasn’t moved as much as I should have been. And Collins’ “I’ll Cover You (Reprise)” was not very strong either, and almost laughable as his melisma went strangely awry.
“What You Own” was ridiculous. Did we really need to see Roger wearing beads around his neck and doing his Yanni impression standing on the hills of New Mexico. Oh and Chris, I have an idea. When Mark says, “Alexi, Mark. Call me a hypocrite, I need to finish my own film. I quit”, have him pick up a fucking phone. It’s the character’s journey, moron. You’ve got him staring out into space from a rooftop, for God’s sake.
And similarly, don’t you think that when Mimi’s dying, and Roger says “Hold on, there’s something you should hear. It isn’t much, but it took all year”, that he should pick up his freaking guitar?? You know he’s supposed to be, like, playing that song for her as she dies, right? It’s in the script. You should read it, it’s good.
All in all, I’d put this movie waaaayyy below Chicago, but alas not as low as Phantom of the Opera as far as recent movie musicals go. I had such high hopes, too. Like I said, vocally everyone sounded great. It’s just too bad it was made 6 years too late and with the wrong director.