Big Fat Search |
Rent (Widescreen Two-Disc Special Edition) Starring: Taye Diggs, Wilson Jermaine Heredia, Rosario Dawson, Anthony Rapp, Adam Pascal $13.49 Features:
|
|
Editorial Review:
In new yorks east village a group of bohemians struggle to express themselves through their art & strive for success & acceptance while enduring the obstacles of poverty illness & the aids epidemic. Studio: Sony Pictures Home Ent Release Date: 06/27/2006 Starring: Rosario Dawson Jesse L Martin Run time: 135 minutes Rating: Pg13
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
On the DVD
Three powerful musical numbers cut from the final film are the highlight of the two-disc DVD. In the aftermath of the funeral scene, Anthony Rapp sings "Halloween," and he, Adam Pascal, and Rosario Dawson share "Goodbye Love" (both songs were in the stage version). Then in an alternate ending, the cast finishes "No Day But Today" on the bare stage on which the film began. There are worthwhile arguments for why these scenes were cut or replaced, so it's fortunate that the DVD lets us see these at all. Those musical numbers have optional commentary by director Chris Columbus, Rapp, and Pascal (two other cut scenes have no commentary), including one funny moment in which Rapp explains in great detail the technical challenge of shooting "Halloween" only to have Columbus say, "Yeah, but I don't know if that's the take we used." The three also provide commentary on the film itself, with Columbus discussing various decisions, criticizing the critics, and marveling "I still don't know how we got the PG-13," and Rapp and Pascal occasionally recalling differences in the stage version.The other whopper of a feature is No Day But Today, a nearly two-hour documentary that uses video clips, still photographs, and interviews with family and friends to celebrate the short life of Jonathan Larson and his creation. Topics include his early interest in musical theater ("I want to write the Hair for the '90s."), the support of Stephen Sondheim, the impact of the AIDS epidemic, the long and difficult road of Rent (casting the show, Larson learning to collaborate, the transfer to a Broadway stage, and the Rentheads), and Larson's tragic death. The last 20 minutes covers the making of the film, director Chris Columbus, the decision to rely on most of the original cast (the only two principals who didn't appear in the movie, Daphne Rubin-Vega and Fredi Walker-Browne, are interviewed in earlier segments, but only mentioned in passing here), recording sessions, and location shooting. If the movie of Rent was a tribute to Jonathan Larson, the DVD is all that and more, a moving and incredibly detailed look at an extraordinary talent whom the world lost far too soon. --David Horiuchi
More Rent
Movie soundtrack
Original Broadway cast recording
Anthony Rapp's Without You: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and the Musical "Rent"
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.0 / 5.0 
I suspect it may get better with time: 
Many reviewers have identified various weaknesses in the film version of Rent. These include overacting and lack of character development among the 8 primary characters. There are multiple plot lines that are more superficial than genuinely presented and fully developed as three dimensional characters rather than stereotypes.
And yet the translation from stage to screen was visually successful since stage-like settings were retained so that the film retained a feeling of a stage production. However,...more info
IS THERE A WORD BETTER THAN EXCELLENT?: 
This was my "first" exposure to RENT so I had nothing to compare it to.
I absolutely fell in love with the movie and all of the characters especially Tracie Thoms! I have all of my friends and family addicted to the movie now. I am now officially a RENT HEAD! I am so sad that I missed an entire decade of RENT. I loved the overall theme of the movie which for me was simply, LOVE, TRUE FRIENDSHIPS AND FAMILY! Tracie Thoms was so convincing in her role, it was so moving, I have cried every time,...more info
2 stars out of 4: 
The Bottom Line:
A perfect example of a play that needs a live audience, Rent simply doesn't work as a film: characters and scenes that worked on Broadway fall painfully flat on celluloid.
What a great Movie!:
I always planned to see Rent (the stage version) I pass the Nederlander Theatre ALL THE TIME. I just didn't do it. When the movie came out I planned to go to and see it. (I didn't)
One I was stuck in bed with a badly sprained ankle & I ound a website where you can watch entire movies for free online. I found myself thinking of what movies I wanted to see but hadn't, I thought of Rent and pleased when the search engine had found it. I realized then that I wanted to see it for 3 years, I didn't even...more info
Similar Products:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Portions © Amazon.com, Inc. |
| Featuring TOP Sellers in Cameras & Photos ... | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
