CapnHook revisits the RENT movie- Page 2

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 11/29/09 at 6:23pm

"Love Heals" did play over the closing credits on the print I saw the night the movie opened nationally.

[jpbran]

Posted: 11/29/09 at 7:33pm

"Columbus...whose body of work includes most of my favorite films (HOME ALONE movies, MRS. DOUBTFIRE, BICENTENNIAL MAN, STEPMOM, the HARRY POTTERs he did)"

Mrs. Doubtfire? Bicentennial Man (let's say: BM)? Stepmom? Some of the 1990s worst movies. And he directed the 2 weakest HP movies. His hiring for this -- an attempt on his part for edginess and/or awards -- was the beginning of the end.

[CapnHook]

Posted: 11/29/09 at 9:27pm

I didn't say they were GOOD movies...just some of my favorite.

"blaxx -- Anthony Rapp defended the film on BWW??

CapnHook, you were posting on BWW at the time. I find it incredibly hard to believe you were the only person who didn't see anyone mentioning it anywhere on the boards, AND missed out on the giant WELCOME ANTHONY RAPP! threads that dominated the main and off-topic board for months."

I was aware he posted on BWW at some time but I never read the threads nor the "WELCOME ANTHONY RAPP" thread(s). At least I don't ever remember participating in those discussions. I'm having difficulty finding the thread via the search function on the board...

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 11/29/09 at 9:35pm

Fans of Glee should enjoy Out Tonight in all its Autotuned glory.

[Annas_Priest]

Posted: 11/29/09 at 9:47pm

I loved the film until I saw the show
Updated On: 11/29/09 at 09:47 PM

[winston89]

Posted: 11/29/09 at 10:05pm

I loved the show very much and when I saw the movie I remember walking out PISSED. I just couldn't begin to count A that which was wrong with the film and B so many different options of where he could have gone in a much better and different direction.

[Craww]

Posted: 11/29/09 at 10:35pm

I got into the show via the movie. So it's kind of solely responsible for getting me into Broadway in general. (I probably would have eventually anyway, as I always loved movie musicals, but I can't lie and say Rent wasn't the catalyst.)

Obviously I liked it. But I almost think its failure to deliver is part of what got me so into the stage show. Maybe if it were the perfect movie I might not have delved as deep.

My friend and I watched it a few months back after rereading The Weekly Adventures of Jesse L. Martin and getting extremely drunk. It was way fun.

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 11/29/09 at 10:41pm

It just didn't stay true to any of what the musical is talking about. Selling out to "the man," and all that. It basically was trying to be a big, mainstream holiday musical, and that's not really what the show is. Sure, it's been on Broadway for so long that it's sort of become a joke, but the show is dealing with some pretty hardcore themes and ideas, and it's pretty gritty stuff. The movie just sort of washed over it all. When they filmed the final performance on Broadway, that was the right kind of idea. It was gritty and raw and the camera angles weren't perfect. It had the right idea. If only they could have transfered that into a more cinematic approach.

The only thing I did like was the idea of using "Seasons of Love" to open the movie. But casting the original cast was not. They're too old. They shouldn't be singing about having to pay RENT when they're in their 30s/40s. That's stupid. They're not longer really all that "hip."

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 11/29/09 at 10:44pm

I like how Columbus decided to set it in the 80s because that's when he lived in NYC, even though it made many references throughout the film make pretty much no sense.

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 11/29/09 at 10:53pm

Yeah, and changing the dates and stuff, and from new years and christmas and flipping it all around.

[eatlasagna]

Posted: 11/29/09 at 11:03pm

at the beginning of the movie, you can see Mimi and Angel acknowledge each other.. I think it's after Angel meets Collins... i didn't notice it until someone brought it up.. but i thought the same thing as you... i wondered how Angel and mimi knew each other...

[Marquise]

Posted: 11/29/09 at 11:11pm

Angel acknowledges Mimi right after the song RENT ends. He looks up at her on the fire escape and gestures towards her with his drumsticks.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 11/29/09 at 11:28pm

They... live in the same neighborhood? That's one of those things that people often feel goes unaddressed in the show (if you see it, it's very subtle and for a split second), and I think they purposefully tried to highlight it on film so it didn't seem like a plot hole later on. Isn't it one of those big Renthead questions, how do Angel and Mimi know each other? Because there's a moment later on where they just seem to know each other without being officially introduced by anybody else, and I remember reading lots of things with people wondering about that, because they felt you didn't see evidence of it.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 11/29/09 at 11:32pm

Does that mean Maureen knew Angel independently of them, too? Because her line about the mass produced Gap tablecloth dresses never made sense to me. That's not the movie's fault, though. The lesbian marriage is, though!


Updated On: 6/14/12 at 11:32 PM

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 11/29/09 at 11:42pm

I didn't really think of it as a plot hole. I mean, a lot of stuff happens offstage and considering MIMI lives right upstairs of Roger & Mark, I'm sure they're not like complete strangers, you know? It would make sense that Mimi has probably seen Angel around the Lower East Side here and there. I mean, Angel meets Mark and Roger and basically within a few mins they're singing a song together, ha.

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 11/30/09 at 12:04am

Haha, I loved how Joanne's parents were TOTALLY COOL with the lesbian marriage even though in the stage show they're not exactly thrilled about her relationship with Maureen.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 11/30/09 at 12:06am

And what a waste of Anna Deveare Smith!

[RainbowJude]

Posted: 11/30/09 at 1:12am

I've pretty much dealt with my feelings on RENT (the show as well as the film) in my blog, to which I've provided a link below - but I'll weigh in on a couple of things, I guess.

CapnHook: Chris Columbus, a director whose body of work includes most of my favorite films... made some of the worst decisions ever.

Perhaps the worst decision in regard to the film was leaving it in the hands of Chris Colombus. I'm not a fan of his body of work and I don't think there is anything that he had done prior to RENT that indicated that he would have been up to handling the material. I know there's a lot of love for Spike Lee around here, but my ideal director would have been Mike Nichols.

CapnHook: I immediately had the thought that the end should have been the actors on stage again in their spotlights. Low and behold, in the alternate ending on the DVD, that was his original plan and it would have worked SOO much better!!

I loved the ending. It was one of the things that saved the film from being a completely wretched adaptation and a move that balances, to an extent, some of the problems inherent in the text with Mimi springing back to life (for however long it might be) by leaving us with a final shot of Angel, reminding us of the primary "No Day But Today" theme of the show which is completely subverted by Mimi's resurrection.

CapnHook: I immediately had the thought that the end should have been the actors on stage again in their spotlights. Low and behold, in the alternate ending on the DVD, that was his original plan and it would have worked SOO much better!!

The opening is awkward and best taken as an old-school opening credits sequence rather than a framework. It's still not great when read in that way, but as soon as it becomes a framework, we end up with a whole lot of dramaturgical problems in regard to how they got there, where they are, what they're doing, and what the reason for the framework is in the first place.

CapnHook: Keeping Larson's lyrics but taking away the music made for uneffective dialogue. If you weren't going to have his other sung dialogue be sung, then rewrite it.

I'm completely agreed on this point.

CapnHook: I now see the feature film for what it truly is - a pitiful attempt by a director... to adapt the masterpiece by a dead beloved playwright.

I'd almost agree with you, except for the fact that RENT is not an outright masterpiece. To be sure, it is Jonathan Larson's masterwork and can be considered as his masterpiece relative to his other work, but in the bigger picture it can't really be considered more than a flawed masterpiece, for it is undoubtedly flawed, particularly - but not solely - because of the way it deals with narrative. Don't get me wrong; I love RENT. But I love it not only because of what it is, but also in spite of what it is, and it was quite a journey before I could articulate this idea as well as how and why it was true for me.
Everything is RENT

[MusicSnob1]

Posted: 11/30/09 at 1:22am

"but as soon as it becomes a framework, we end up with a whole lot of dramaturgical problems"

Really?

it's RENT, folks. The entire show is a plot hole. It wouldn't be the same show if a legit Dramturgical overhaul occured. I'm aware of Larson's dramaturg (aka: his "ghost writer") but that woman was a joke.

I'm not sure RENT is meant to address or, more importantly, ever resolve the dramaturgical problems and/or questions. It is what it is - an edgy rock musical with little substance, in terms of actual material, and relies heavily on emotional ejaculation & controversial fluff.

[RainbowJude]

Posted: 11/30/09 at 1:25am

Roscoe: I can only single out one as being the first serious deal-braker: when Collins is being chased by the muggers, he decides to escape them by running INTO a dark alley. One of dumbest moments in American cinema.

American cinema is full of these moments, although usually in slashers where a potential victim runs to a place that is very obviously one from which there is no escape!

[eatlasagna]

Posted: 11/30/09 at 2:06am

watching the extras and hearing the family talk about how Chris Columbus was the best choice to do the movie... made me wonder if they REALLY thought that! kinda sucks if they just faked it for the camera...

[rosscoe(au)]

Posted: 11/30/09 at 2:52am

If Larson had lived, reNt would never have opened on Broadway.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 11/30/09 at 1:04pm

Starting the movie with "Seasons of Love" pretty much derails the movie from the start. It's boring. It's kind of creepy. Strangely enough, Thoms is the stagiest of the performers in this scene. She moves weird. She tries too hard. Her eyes roll around like she's on ecstasy. The opening of this film is so dull and inspired that I'm not sure it could ever truly recover.

We barrel full steam into the title song without a shred of exposition.

Why half of "Out Tonight" takes place with Mimi all bundled up, skipping down the street, I'll never know. It doesn't work as her club song, either, except during it's opening chords, when it looks for a moment like it's going to be a recreation of the stage version. It's not, and it's one of the biggest disappointments in the film.

The song sort of clicks at the very end, when Dawson climbs out on her fire escape and wails "at the moon like a cat in heat," the aforementioned robotics of ever autotuned voice notwithstanding. When it segues right into "Another Day" and it feels like things may start cookin' on screen.

"Another Day" is actually one of my favorite songs in the film. The movie really gets out of its own way for a moment, but we soon come crashing back to Columbus's totally boring movie.

"Take Me or Leave Me" had a strange sit-comy feel to it, with everyone mugging and following Maureen and Joanne around.

"Santa Fe" is one of the weirdest songs in the film. If any song called for a dream sequence, it was this one (instead of the stupid one in "Tango: Maureen"). I know a lot of people love this song, but it's never been a favorite of mine, and I wish this had been cut from the movie instead of "Christmas Bells."

So much music and recitative was cut, and yet the damn thing still clocks in at two and a quarter hours. Any time it builds even a hint of momentum, it quickly grinds down to a halt again. Songs appear out of nowhere ("Life Support" is particularly jarring) and often end with a thud.

On stage, Act One was the course of just of few hours while in the film it's about three days. It loses a lot of it urgency that way and just opens the movie up to a lot of questions.(Do they really go to Life Support every day? Why does Angel always take her wig off at those meetings?).

I saw a sneak preview and I saw it in its regular run. Neither print I saw I had "Love Heals" on it.




Updated On: 11/30/09 at 01:04 PM

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 11/30/09 at 1:30pm

I actually didn't like how they staged "No Day but Today." I was like, why doesn't Roger just go back inside?

And, yeah, "Out Tonight" didn't work as a club song.

[James885]

Posted: 11/30/09 at 1:53pm

Everybody has pretty much stated my thoughts on the film, but I'll put my two cents in anyway.

Starting the movie with "Seasons of Love" pretty much derails the movie from the start.

I couldn't agree more. If "Seasons of Love" couldn't be properly integrated into the film then it should have been cut.

Chris Columbus was absolutely the wrong director for Rent. Some his directing choices were just flat out dumb. I had initially blamed Stephen Chbosky for that mess of a screenplay until I read one of his earlier drafts that was light years better than the other one, and I found out that it was Columbus who was mainly responsible for changing so much of it. It actually almost made me mad because if they had stuck to the earlier draft, the movie might have turned out better. Sure it probably would've been rated R, alienating a lot of Rent's fanbase, but it would a much better movie than what we got.

The OBC was entirely too old to play the parts on screen. They should have gotten a fresh cast of twenty-somethings. And some Broadway actors just do not photograph well on screen. Adam Pascal is one of them. Idina Menzel is another. The whole movie is just a hot mess. It's practically unwatchable.

EDIT: Reading some of those old Rent threads was a hoot! I'd joined around that time but I didn't really post that often so I missed a lot of the action. Nevertheless it was great fun reading those heated Rent threads and seeing so many people (many of whom no longer post) proclaim how good the movie is.

Updated On: 11/30/09 at 01:53 PM