Rent Review (Spoilers)

[bwayfan9]

Posted: 9/24/08 at 10:41pm

The question we all ask ourselves as we walk into the theatre is, "How Can this Compare to Seeing It Live?".

Well it didn't, but boy did it come close!

This filming had stunning close ups, an overall strong cast, and the most loyal and enthusiastic audience you could ask for.

There were some beautiful close ups. There were two scenes when they close up onn the band, really cool! The Contact scene was incredible. You could see every facial expression and every movement. There were things I didn't notice that were very cool. durirng Out Tonight, they close up on Mimi's Face and you can see the glitter raining from her hair, beautiful shot.

I don't know most of the cast member's names, so I will refer to them by their characters names.

Mimi's performace was spectacular. Her acting, singing, dancing: WOW!

Eden Espinosa brought down the house with Over the moon. She brought a unique and exciting energy to Maureen that hasn't been seen since Idina Menzel.

Micheal Elroy gave a heartwarming oerformance. You could see the emotion in his face, something you can't notice by watching the show live. It was almost as if the role were written for him. Truly Stunning

Angel was on fire. She made me laugh and cry, what more can you ask for. Her singing was crazy good, boy could she dance, and boy could she make you fall in love with her.

Mark was fun. Every Mark is diffrent, his was a lot less geeky and a lot more sexy and comedic.

Will Chase was on fire in some parts, and board of hims mind in others. I really liked his rock voice, but sometimes he was over the top. He did a lot o screaming and yelling, it didn't even seem like music sometimes. Durring seasons of love he looked extremely board, it took away. However, his Glory, Your Eyes, and another day were spot on.

The male season of love soloist was great, but he looked a little to happy sometimes. He was great durring seasons of love and his singing voice was quite beautiful.

There was an intermission, it was only ten minutes. It made you feel like you were watching the show live, which was kind of cool.

Overal



WOW!!!!!

Go see this cinecast. The audience I was with was so into it that they clapped cried durring the movie, it was that good. Even if you don't like Rent you must get off your ass and SEE IT!!!!!

[it'sjustshowbiz]

Posted: 9/24/08 at 11:06pm

How long was the movie? Were there any "extras" that would make it longer than the show?

[lstbutifulgrl2]

Posted: 9/24/08 at 11:31pm

no extras... but there is a 10 minute intermission.

[TonyVincent]

Posted: 9/25/08 at 8:15am

There is a 10 minute intermission where they just have a wide angle shot of the stage, complete with stagehands with football jerseys moving the set, and people in the front row standing, talking on cell phones. Kinda cool, actually. I would prefer they had left it out, though.

Then they have the alumni reunion on stage after the final bows.

All in all, though, they did a very good job. I wouldn't have been so zoomed in, though. Being able to see the actors' cavities and crowns when it feels like the camera is inside their mouths isn't very sexy.

Coming out of the Rent movie, I said "I wish they had just slightly adapted the stage version and done it with the original cast, capturing the minimalism and surrealism much more effectively." Well, that's what this performance did, just with an inferior cast.

I have no idea how expensive this was to produce, but they shot 90% of it in a day, so it couldn't have been THAT expensive. I wish they would do this for more Broadway shows, while the original cast is still in it!

[EponineAmneris]

Posted: 9/25/08 at 8:17am

Glad to hear this came out well Wish it was here so I could go

[balto]

Posted: 9/25/08 at 9:34am

It was definitely a great show...

BUT

I thought I was going to throw up during some of the scenes. The camera was moving just a little too much for my taste in the beginning, but I must have gotten used to it.

I on the other hand did like the close ups - you saw emotions you rarely see on stage. In fact, I saw new parts in some of the "ensemble" scenes that I had never noticed before. The words to the songs were extremely clear as well... just a great show overall.

Definitely recommended.

[Huey's Pop]

Posted: 9/25/08 at 10:52am

I saw it last night and was thrilled with it. Seeing it again on Saturday.

[folkyboy]

Posted: 9/25/08 at 10:57am

I loved it and thought it was awesome! I did feel a bit like I was the oldest person in the audience, though. So many people have come to know this musical WELL after I did. I guess that's good (due to the movie), but I heard a lot of surprised voices talking about how different it was from the movie.

we also had some annoying people who wanted to sing along. but otherwise, the show itself rocked!

[REVA107]

Posted: 9/25/08 at 11:13am

I agree with a lot that was already said on here. I felt like the zooming was a little over the top and took away from some scenes. It wasn't until after "Out Tonight" that the all-over editing finally seemed to calm down. I thought I was going to have a seizure during "Out Tonight!" I felt like they tried too hard to capture every second in close ups and quick panning instead of just showing us broad view during some scenes. Also, Will Chase's makeup was terrible. He looked like a zombie through most of it (and he's way too pretty for that!) I felt like I was watching a Rocky Horror dub!! I also felt like putting eyeliner on him made his skin look really pale (because he's so fair already,) which in turn, made him look a lot older. . .almost too old to pull off Roger. Did anyone else feel the same?

[folkyboy]

Posted: 9/25/08 at 11:24am

i actually liked Will Chase's makeup. maybe cause i like Will Chase.

if the editing and filming in RENT was going to make you have a seizure, i'd avoid a lot of movies lately. they all seem to be like that

[karen24]

Posted: 9/25/08 at 11:35am

REVA107, I felt the same way about Will Chase, but I couldn't put my finger on what was wrong I knew it was something about his eyes! It did make him look a bit weird.

I saw the movie last night here in Rochester, NY. I took my 16-year-old son and his girlfriend. To show you what theater geeks we all are, when we got there there was quite a long line of people waiting to get in. I assumed that they were all there for "Rent"--but no, they had free passes to see some other movie. When we got into the "Rent" theater it was almost empty. People gradually trickled in, but I'd say there were no more than 30 people there--maybe less. It was a very quiet crowd with no clapping after numbers or anything like that.

We've seen the show on Broadway several times, the last time when Adam & Anthony were back. Overall I'd have to say that the movie didn't capture, at least for me, the feeling of seeing it live onstage. There were (as others have said) too many close-ups and quick panning around from person to person. I found it frustrating. I guess maybe they were trying to appeal to a broader audience, and I suppose if you had never seen the show onstage, you might not be bothered by it. I have to say that I really didn't like the way they filmed "Contact" at all. I find it much more effective when seen from farther away, with everyone writhing under the white fabric. They only had that shot a couple of times.

As far as the performances go, I was quite impressed overall. I hadn't seen any of this cast before. I really liked Benny; I thought he was the best Benny I've seen (not having seen Taye Diggs, I should add, except in the film.) Loved Tracie Thoms and thought she was one of the best ones. I actually thought that Will Chase was quite good as Roger and I liked his singing, but I don't think he had the connection with Mark that Adam and Anthony have. Eden Espinosa reminded me strongly of Idina Menzel; not sure if that is good or bad?

I enjoyed seeing the original cast members come out at the end but I thought someone here had said that when they were there, lots of other actors who had been in the show over the years had come out on stage; did I misunderstand that? That wasn't shown in the film, if it happened.

All in all, it was fun to see this cast, but I was a bit disappointed that it didn't capture more of the feeling of being at a Broadway show. Many times I almost forgot that it was a live theater performance because we almost never saw the whole stage. I plan to see the tour with Adam & Anthony and am hoping that they do get a stellar cast to work with them!

[theatrenut2]

Posted: 9/25/08 at 11:56am

It was a fun show to watch, and I highly rec. going to see it, especially if you have seen it live. I am a big Will Chase fan, but I was not impressed last night. I saw him as Roger live before, and he was fantastic, but I felt that he was off in the filmed performance. It seemed to me that he was just doing the show, and he was bored. I agree that I did not feel a connection between Mark and Roger.

I almost wish that they would have just set up the camera in the fifth row and left it. The movement of the camera took away from the show. Yes, it is great to see SOME close ups but not to the cost of the other action that is taking place on stage.

I DO suggest that you go if you are a Rent fan. The reunion song was great!

Updated On: 9/25/08 at 11:56 AM

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 9/25/08 at 11:58am

It wasn't until after "Out Tonight" that the all-over editing finally seemed to calm down.

Are you kidding? Christmas Bells was a visual mess. It was impossible to follow what was going on or even where people were located on the stage. Contact was equally confusing. Even in Happy New Year, I wanted to shout, "Just STOP for a second!" They need to re-edit about 50% of the film.

I also felt like putting eyeliner on him made his skin look really pale (because he's so fair already,) which in turn, made him look a lot older. . .almost too old to pull off Roger. Did anyone else feel the same?

Absolutely. In closeup, Roger looked 40. It was a bit distracting.

[JoshuaEads]

Posted: 9/25/08 at 11:59am

Overall, I felt that the cinecast was done extremely well! The actors et al were superb and if I had to make one complaint it would be the excessive close-ups that seemed to jump from angle to angle very quickly. However, as other posters have pointed out, this smoothed itself out as the performance progressed, and wasn't nearly enough of a distraction to take away from my enjoyment of the film.

I dragged my husband, who moderately enjoyed the movie, but avoided the stage production like the plague because he's just not into "live musicals". I don't think he stopped sobbing (not crying, mind you ... sobbing!) throughout all of act two. Now he can't wait to get tickets for the tour whenever it makes its way through Orlando. If nothing else, this film has made a musical theatre fan out of one more person.

[REVA107]

Posted: 9/25/08 at 2:01pm

Yeah Karen, I felt the same way about Will- I saw Jay Wilkison understudying the performance I saw with the final cast and actually thought he had more chemistry as Roger with Mimi and just with his character, in general. It did seem like Will was off a little bit. Also, about the theatre- it was a sold out show by me, no longer selling tickets, yet there were only about 30 in my theatre, as well. I almost wonder if they only did limited amounts of tickets, which doesn't really make sense, but why call it sold out with an abundance of seats you can profit off of. . .so strange!!

[Testing1232]

Posted: 9/25/08 at 2:23pm

Saw it last night, and thought they did a GREAT job with it !
Eden was the highlight for me. She was amazing !!!

I wasnt crazy about Chase, and agree with some of the others... he just looked weird to me, ad I couldnt really put my finger on what it was !!! Something was just off.

I will say that I was kind of surprised that the audience (at the show) seemed to be a bit subdued. At least that is the way it came across in the film.

I remember being at the first show when Adam and Anthony came back, and it was much louder.

Overall, loved it !!!

[folkyboy]

Posted: 9/25/08 at 2:29pm

Testing, i think a majority of what was shot was NOT from a show with the audience and then they splotched in the canned audience pieces after.

[uncageg]

Posted: 9/25/08 at 2:39pm

REVA, I agree with your initial comments on the movie and Will Chase's makeup. I was pretty disapppointed with this filming. I actually had a slight headache when I left the theater from the MTV like presentation of the show on film. Thank goodness the sound wasn't cranked up at the theater I saw it on or I would have gone crazy! I feel that the way it was filmed sucked a lot out of the performances. They just went from one close up to another. And in time with the music a lot of times, which was annoying. They needed to do more wide shots so that we could get a full picture of what was happening all over the stage. In my opinion they struck out 1 and 1/2 times on film with this show. (I feel the actual movie was a better than this filming. But not, as has been discussed, the best the movie could have, or should have, been) JMO

[uncageg]

Posted: 9/25/08 at 2:41pm

folkboy, interesting you should say that. I was sitting thinkink that I read somewhere on here that the crowd just went crazy for just about everything at the final performance. it seemed to be a bit toned down in the movie based on what I heard/read.

[REVA107]

Posted: 9/25/08 at 2:54pm

The audience did seem subdued, however, it seemed as though the recording was directly connected to the sound system, so the audience seemed to just be "background noise," in a way. We really only heard the audience when they were probably roaring with applause, as opposed to general clapping. That's how it came across to me. . . :)

[viola13]

Posted: 9/25/08 at 3:08pm

I was at closing night and I'm pretty sure a lot of the footage was from the August taping. The biggest thing that gives it away was that throughout practically the entire final show, the whole cast was *just* holding back tears and a lot were outright crying during the second act. You didn't see it in the movie.

And did anyone else notice the disappearing/appearing swings at the end? They weren't in Finale B until everyone goes towards the table and suddenly they were standing around the table, and then disappeared again when the cast took their bows. At closing night they were there the entire time, from when the ensemble runs on through bows.

[bwayfan9]

Posted: 9/25/08 at 5:48pm

I forgot to mention that I live in a small town, where people don't like theatre, and it was PACKED!!!

Updated On: 9/25/08 at 05:48 PM

[crushgroove]

Posted: 9/25/08 at 9:07pm

I had the extreme luck of seeing the film in the same theater as OBC cast member Rodney Hicks...who is Benny in the film. He said it will be released sometime in the winter after another 6 dates the film will be in theaters (after this initial 4). They are also producing a new documentary.

He said most of the film is what was filmed on August 20th in a marathon 17 hour shoot. 10 hrs without the audience, another 7 with one. The cast is extremely pleased with the finish result which they were shown on Monday.

I also have a friend in L.A. who works for the company that filmed the show...they are expected to find out when it will be released sometime in the next week or so.

[springawoken819]

Posted: 9/29/08 at 1:12pm

I saw the show yesterday, and i don't really know what to think. The acting was all really good, not the original cast, but still fantastic. Eden was GREAT, as was Will Chase, and Justin Johnson (who i've seen live all 3 times i saw the show on broadway) never ceases to amaze me. However, the filming was a little bit iffy. I liked that there were some close ups, but i certainly didn't think they were necessary all the time, and definitely not so much in the ensemble pieces. There were times when i felt like you couldn't tell where certain things were happening on the stage, especially if you hadn't seen it before.

i liked the idea, but it was too MTV for me, definitely agree that it should have just been filmed from a wide angle.

It also upsets me that it wasn't all shot from the final performance, seeing as how it was advertised as the final performance, and i would have liked to see all the emotion of that performance.

on a more positive note, it was really cool seeing some of the original cast members up there for seasons of love at the end.

love Rent, love that it has been saved for future generations, wish it had been done a little bit better, but what can you do?

[newyorkrbust]

Posted: 9/29/08 at 1:28pm

Let me start out by saying I'm not complaining at all!! I am soooo happy to finally have Rent where I can watch it whenever i want when it comes on DVD however......

I did not like that Roger. He seemed very hostile and angry, very unroger like. He had a good voice, but not a "roger" voice. In my opinion, he was not suited for that part.

Mimi-Same scenario. Nice voice, not a bad actress, just didn't get that "mimi" vibe.

Collins- I've always been partial to Jesse L. Martin and no one else really does it for me. He wasn't bad either, not a fan of what he did with "I'll Cover You (Reprise)" But not the worst I've seen.

Maureen- AWESOME!!! Possibly best maureen I've ever seen (liked her better than Idina, but then again, I've never been a huge fan of Idina.

Joanne- you go tracie!! Loved her!!

Angel- Justin Johnston was AMAZING!!! Just like everytime I've seen him! I ABSOLUTELY LOOOOVE him and his voice! so basically HE was the best part of the show I thought.

Benny- eh

Mark- I liked him.

It seemed as though there was forced comedy in parts were it wasn't supposed to be funny.
it may have been b/c I wasn't able to go to the live show and the energy connection is far from the same but this was the worst cast I think I've seen.

I did almost start crying when Justin came back out and he had wet cheeks and teary eyes. That was my favorite thing. It really just touched me.



There seemed to be forced comedy where