All Rent Reviews (Place Here) — Page 21

SO I watched the midnight showing last night just praying it would be awesome and to be honest, I wasn't incredibly pleased. I thought the cast was amazing and many of the numbers (la vie boheme, light my candle, Over the Moon, etc.) were amazing and deserved the clapping they received from the audience. But, maybe it was Chris Columbus, but there was a lot of cheesy-ness and some things cut out that I felt really hurt the movie. For example, I thought "Without You" was great, but for those who are not familiar with the play, the lead up into their break-up was not well set. It wasn't incredibly made clear that Mimi possibly cheated on Rodger with Benny or why Rodger was such a dick to Mimi when she was using drugs (because they changed the story ending with Rodger and April). Also what was up with the whole gay marriage? Where they trying to make a statement? And also, last thing I swear, what was up with Rodger singing in the desert? I love the number, it's so great live, but on film it just reminded me of Britney Spear's music video for "I'm not a girl, not yet a woman", just killing the moment (most people in the theater started laughing). I really don't mean to be a downer because I'm a huge Renthead, I've seen it live like 10 times, I ritually listen to the soundtrack, and I really wanted it to be great. But over all I feel Chris Columbus was trying to please too many people.

haha, Adam's face was NEVER meant to be that big. That was creepy, EVEN to me.

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Nov. 23rd. 5:15 Mountain Time. Denver Colorado. Just got back from the movie theatre. Enjoyed the movie. It was a bit strange hearing some of the sung dialogue done as straight dialouge. That threw me off a bit. Was not super impressed with Adam Pascal's performance. But all in all I enjoyed it. A lot of people familiar with the show at the screening I attened. But the theatre was not packed. A lot of empty seats. I would say about 100 to 150 people. But also, it is playing in two theatres at the complex I saw it at and I went to an early show. Loved everyones vocals and the new takes on some of the songs. A standout was "Take me for what I am". Loved it! And of course Angels death ripped my heart out. I cried. A lot! That reprise of I'll cover you gets me every time! So that's my quick review. Oh, also, the quick flash of the twin towers actually got a vocal response from the crowd I saw it with. I think I will see it again just to sit back and enjoy and not be looking for and listening for certain things. Also, I feel that if anyone gets a nomination out of the cast, it will be Mr. Herrida for Supporting actor and Rosario Dawson could possibly snag one also.

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Just got back. I must admit, I was a little disappointed. I wanted to just LOVE every bit of it.
-I hated the "Roger in Santa Fe" scenes.
-I thought "You'll See Boys" was pretty bad.
-And being honest, I thought Mimi's "death" was way too melodramatic.
-I think the movie needed to explain how April died, but had I not known, I may not have noticed.
-I think there seemed to be something missing where Halloween would have been.

But:
-LOVED Tango Maureen
-I thought Over the Moon was hysterical, but I think I thought it was funnier than anyone else in the theatre.
-La Vie Boheme was excellent
-I liked that the darker parts were able to be shown darker on screen.
-Loved Take Me Or Leave Me
-The Life Support Meeting and Angel's death touched me in ways I wasn't expecting.

My best friend actually liked most of it. She hated the parts that she remembered hating, but loved some of the music.

Anyway, It was very surreal to finally see the film. I had very mixed emotions upon leaving. It is a film that will always mean a great deal to me and I will own it the day it hits DVD. I actually like the fact that I didn't blindly love it. I like analyzing it.

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Just saw Rent, guys...

Wow. That's all I can say. I'm not able to proess that I just saw it, I've been waiting for it since May. I'll just point out some important parts:
Beginning: Let me just say I saw it in a huge theater with a great audience, which is what I had wished for since day one. So the second the logo came up and the music started, everyone cheered. When Jonathon's name came up, I got a bit teary-eyed, and clapped with everyone else. The movie started, and I was shaking, seriously.
Actors: Let's randomly start with...Adam. One word. Hot. But he's more than a pretty face, he was incredible. His expressions made me melt, my stomach was all over the place. Idina. Over the Moon took some getting used to, but it was great. And Idina? Fantastic. She was made for doing what she does. Now on to Anthony. My friend was sitting next to me laughing hysterically and going, "He's such a geek, I love him!" Ha. But he was really, really good. Jesse. He's great, and extremely charming, and he and Wilson are perfect. Okay, now Wilson. I love him, I really do. He deserves a nomination, what a great performance. Taye. Once again, another hottie. God, they're spoiling us! But since it was a small role, not much to say, just that his expressions were great, and his reaction to "Joanne" cracked me up. Okay, the newbies. Rosario first. My friend couldn't stop raving about her, and said she's her new idol. I wasn't as crazy about her, but I was certainly impressed. Way to go, Rosario! Okay, Tracie. I loooove her. She's was funny when she needed to be, and serious at other times. Great, great, great actor, and obviously an amazing singer.
Overall: My friends and I cried, especially one of them, but there were points when you couldn't hear the words, people were sobbing so loud. I walked into the bathroom afterwards, and there were girls who looked emotionally drained. But I give it a thousand thumbs up. Can't wait to see it again. Happy Thanksgiving everybody!
-Elphie

Updated On: 11/23/05 at 08:25 PM

Okay. I just got back the second time.

I said before that I was going to hold off sharing my thoughts until I saw it this time, b/c I was too overwhelmed after the first time to really think about it and digest it and form an opinion. I wanted to see it again and really view it critically before forming a viewpoint.

I've concluded that this film is very, very good. I really, really like it. However, there is one, big, WHOPPING reason I don't think it's GREAT, and why I didn't absolutely, positively LOVE it.

The Angel/Collins storyline. Or, in this case, complete lack thereof.

Don't get me wrong. You Okay Honey was really cute. ICY was adorable. The way they beat cops up for each other during the riot was priceless, and the drunken breaking back into the building scene is beyond amazing. However...that's it. The strengths of that plotline end there.

I really, REALLY hate to agree with Arthurs here, and I still don't because I don't believe that it's because of homophobia, but...they were terribly, horribly watered down. They were barely shown compared to the other two couples and were FAR less physically intimate than M/J and R/M. I'm not saying I wanted sex, but it would've been nice to see more snuggling and intimacy between the two, aside from their two scripted kisses during ICY and WY. They were just...ignored. The chemistry between Jesse and Wilson is so strong you could cut it with a knife, and yet it wasn't put to hardly ANY use. It was a real shame in that vein.

On top of that, I really, REALLY strongly dislike the way Angel and Collins are portrayed in this film. Jesse's Collins is far, far, FAR too...fratboy. He's wild, crazy, bouncing off the walls and very over the top, and I HATED it. Collins is supposed to be the warm, mature, loving, father figure of the group, not a pothead (and HOLY COW, WHAT A POTHEAD) fratboy party animal. Collins is my favorite character which probably explains why I'm so sensitive to this, but this wildchild!Collins interpretation just did NOT do it for me. He didn't seem sensitive, and he sure as HELL didn't make me believe that he was head over heels in love with Angel.

Angel, I enjoyed his portrayal much more. I thought Wilson did a GREAT job of making him sweet and loving. However, as my mom pointed out, he wasn't given any real time to express this loving nature. He didn't talk hardly at all, had FAR less dialogue than ANYONE in the cast, and when he was actually shown, all he was doing was getting drunk or high with Collins. Yes, I know, I know, there's mentions of pot with Collins in the play, and it's never bothered me, b/c the characters were deep enough so that you took them seriously nonetheless. Here, though, he and Collins just seemed so...shallow. They seemed to hardly ever be onscreen compared to the others, and when they were they were just acting crazy and impaired. As a result, I couldn't take them seriously. They did not at ALL seem to be the mature, together, happy, "emotional core of the group" relationship they were onstage, and as such the deep emotional impact of their supposed-to-be-tragic romance is completely absent.

I mentioned this to my mother and sister on the way out (both who have seen the play multiple times) and they completely agreed with me. Mom felt that A and C's relationship was seriously lacking, and Angel didn't convince her that he was the "glue that held the group together" the way he had onstage. She also agreed that Collins seemed very out of character compared to how Jesse had done it back in the day and also who'd she'd seen onstage otherwise.

Bottom line, I couldn't feel for C and A the way I had all these years, and I just couldn't take them to heart, or seriously. True, they seemed more human, I suppose, but being constantly high and drunk and hardly ever touching each other and being all giggly and whatnot just seemed very...against their characters. Maybe this is just me, and all of you are wondering what the Hell I'm talking about. After all, it's all about perception. For those of you who felt satisfied with the relationship, I'm very happy for you, bc you got a maximum experience out of this film. However, these boys have been my favorite since my very first time at the show, and their onscreen duo was sorely disappointing for me.

That said, I don't blame it at ALL on Jesse and Wilson. Each are superb actors who did the best they could with what they were given. I just didn't like at all what they were given.

Aside from that, this movie is stunning. Maureen/Joanne and Roger/Mimi are FANTASTIC, the cinematography is BEAUTIFUL (the constant fading to black was just beautifully eerie), the music sounds great and the story really flows. There were 2 or 3 cheesy moments, but totally forgiveable. Overall, a beautiful film with one major flaw, and that's the boys. I give it 3 out of 4 stars. Nicely done and despite the disappointment I feel over A and C, definitely worthy of my time, money and waiting.

That is all. :wink:

Wow.

So after months of obsessing and worrying, I finally got to see this today. It was incredible. Not perfect, but it doesn't have to be...it stays true to the essence of the stage show, which is what's most important.

All of the actors were fantastic, but with six of the originating cast members that's hardly a surprise. The real surprise, though, was that Rosario Dawson just totally blew me away... she OWNED this part. She just radiated raw emotion every moment that she was on screen. I'm so impressed. Adam Pascal, too, who's taken some flack for his acting, really impressed me. Everyone was great, but those two especially exceeded my expectations.

I felt the absence of Halloween and Goodbye Love A LOT. I doubt that I would have if I were unfamiliar with the show and had never heard them before, but that not being the case I really wished that they had been there. I can't help but feel that not having Halloween and the Mark/Roger fight totally destroys Mark's character arc. I'm not exaggerating, either... my friend who had never seen Rent before commented about how he seemed to be such a comparatively one-dimensional character who didn't really do very much. And since Mark is my favorite character, this was pretty disappointing. (I'd be interested to know what Anthony thinks about these cuts and whether or not they really effect his character). Launching directly into What You Own from the funeral scene also seemed quite awkward, even jarring, from a pacing standpoint, but that could be because I'm not used to it.

I do realize that this is just a personal preference, and cinematically it may well have been a wise decision to make the cuts. What IS in the movie, though, is magnificent. Some things that I had worried about how they would work into the story (such as the fantasy Tango: Maureen scene) worked really well on film. Other times, song transitions seemed momentarily awkward (just at that moment where the music to another song cuts in), but I honestly don't think that there's any way to avoid this. The montage during Without You was beautiful and haunting, and definitely the highlight of the film.

I wish I had time to talk about everything that I loved about it. The flaws mentioned here were the only ones that I noticed to any great degree, and nearly everything else was exactly the way it should have been. This was a great adaptation of a beloved stage show.

Updated On: 11/23/05 at 09:10 PM

I was quite disappointed. I can't even begin to describe it. The strongest actors of the bunch were Wilson, Rosario, Jesse, and Tracie. I really disliked the way it was cut, fading to black every now and then. The singing was great, especially Jesse. To me, he and Wilson had the most human characters.

If anyone has questions about things in general, why I didnt like it, please PM me, cause it's too long and drawn out to talk about here.

BTW, Idina and Rosario are really hot. REALLY. HOT.

Updated On: 11/23/05 at 09:19 PM

WOW WOW WOW WOW

RENT MOVIE - LOVED IT!

ANTHONY RAPP - He has always just been Mark for me, no other could replace him.
ADAM PASCAL - You'd think he has been acting since he was 2, he was amazing and so hott!
IDINA MENZEL - I love her ass. She was beautiful, and very exciting to watch.
TRACIE THOMS - Wow, i never did doubt her performance, but she blew me away.
WILSON - He was absoultly beautiful! He and Jesse have great chemistry!
JESSE L. MARTIN - Show-stopper, he was witty and his voice is breath taking.
TAYE DIGGS - I'm sad we didn't see so much him. He played his role so well!
ROSARIO DAWSON - I admit i did doubt her, i was protective of rent. But she was great, she proved me wrong.

All the songs were so well done, though i do miss 'Christmas Bells'. But the version of the RENT movie i saw, 'Goodbye Love' was not cut, thank the lord. Maybe next time i see it, it may be..i don't know. My favorite numbers have always been both La Vie Boheme's and Will I, and definatly still are!

*Anthony was hilarious in La Vie Boheme, he made the song for me*

I can't wait to see it again, this weekend i'll be living at the theatre.

Updated On: 11/23/05 at 09:35 PM

Loved the film...brought back so many good memories of seeing the Original cast on stage. I loved LVB, I thought Over the Moon was better than on stage and also was surprised about how much I liked Without You.

But what was up with What You Own?? That was a bit of a disappointment for me.

Can't wait to see it again.

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OK, guys, I'll ignite it...

I went to see the film RENT with my sister tonight. May I say that it was one of the funniest, saddest and most powerful films I have ever seen in a while. The atmosphere was great, the actors were great, and everything else that I forgot to mention was great.

All the musica numbers were done excellently, with a few standouts:

Without You: This number had a lot of guts. The scene of Mimi by the bathtub should get a nominee for a most powerful image in a film, if there were one. Also, you could really feel the pain that Collins felt as they were on the subway to the Hospital. Just powerful. And, best of all, my sister, who really hates musicals, was crying from the funeral scene afterwords from here on in.

Seasons of Love: My favorite singer in this song is Tracie. I love the way that she sings, "You know that love is a gift from up above." Excellently well done.

I must say, however, that every pleasure has it's price. My one dissapointment, was, Idina. She did a little too much breathing in her, "Over the moon." LOVED the entrance, though.

Overall, this film should see Oscar nominees in the future, thoug it probably won't. I should call up all my friends to go and SEE THIS FILM.

That's my tuppence.

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