I Almost Forgot How Much I LOVED "Rent" (The Movie)- Page 3

[Kitzarina]

Posted: 8/28/06 at 2:55pm

I actually enjoyed the movie the first time I saw it, even though it paled greatly in comparison to the show.

When I saw that it was one of the movies playing on my Trans-Atlantic flight to England, I lept at the chance to watch it again. Imagine how depressed I was to realize that the whole thing was truly unwatchable. Chris Columbus could NOT have done a worse job translating this show to film. I'm just greatful I didn't go out and buy the DVD. I will always mourn what this film could've been in the hands of a competent director.

[greeneyed_one]

Posted: 8/28/06 at 5:18pm

>>I think the best part of the dvd is watching it with the commentary! <<

Totally agree. Adam Pacal and Anthony Rapp have great senses of humor.

[brdwybound2]

Posted: 8/28/06 at 5:29pm

Yes! I love the commentary. And I also knew the Golden Gate Theatre was in SF because they mention something about it in the commentary. I love Anthony and Adam.

[LAMANCHAFAN]

Posted: 8/28/06 at 6:53pm

<< Worst for me--- "Tango Maureen"- hated the dance scene !!
Way too cheesey !!!

That is my favorite scene in the whole movie. I thought it was brilliantly done. With Idina in the red. I LOVED that part. >>

I dont know... I found myself throughout the entire movie thinking to myself... "how would Larson handle this scene?", and I couldnt see him doing the "Tango" dance sequence the way that it was done.

[MrMidwest]

Posted: 9/9/06 at 5:55pm

I've always wanted to sort out all of my problems with the Rent movie, so I will now.

Most of my problem with the movie are directorial choices.

The dialogue scenes don't lead into the songs well. Using dialogue that is often essentially lyrics turned into dialogue is also a problem. There definitely could've been more dialogue between Collins and Angel. Even without it, their relationship still worked for me.

Leaving out that April killed herself and didn't just die of AIDS changes the audience's perspective on Roger's character to a degree. Someone you love killing themselves and someone you love dying from sickness are different kinds of griefs.

I had a hard time buying that the group members would all be totally okay with Mark filming them, especially the first time he was there.

Based on how upscale they made the Cat Scratch Club look, I think they really should've just had Out Tonight performed on the fire escape.

Having Mimi leave the apartment during Another Day totally undercuts the intensity of that scene. It's having them right up in each other's faces that makes it so powerful. Cross-cutting between Mimi and Roger & Collins, Angel, and Mark should've been employed.

I don't think the version of Over the Moon in the movie works at all. The version on the soundtrack is much funnier to me.

The staging of Take Me or Leave Me with the characters following Maureen and Joanne around is awkward.

I don't know what Chris Columbus was thinking when he decided to cut the second part of Goodbye Love. Even though it's not shot as well as it should've been, it's still one of the most emotional parts of the score to me. It also gives insight into Roger and Mark's characters that can't really be seen elsewhere in the movie, especially considering that they also cut Mark's "Halloween".

The movie leaves it unclear whether Benny is cheating on Alison with Mimi near the end of the film. This should've been explained better.

The "Bon Jovi singing on a cliff" moment during "What You Own"... 'nuff said.

Would it have been possible to use an angle during "Your Eyes" that doesn't make Roger look like The Joker?

In spite of all that, I think the movie still sort of works, but it really could've been a lot more effective in the right hands (whoever those are). I don't actually think Columbus was the worst possible choice, but some of the decisions he made were very unfortunate.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 9/9/06 at 10:45pm

And I also knew the Golden Gate Theatre was in SF because they mention something about it in the commentary.

Couldn't you tell just from the name?

[MrMidwest]

Posted: 9/14/06 at 12:08am

I'm curious about something. I remember in the trailers for the movie there was a shot where Mark is filming with his camera and then Collins is shown with a grief-stricken expression on his face and Mark puts the camera down. Is that in the movie? I don't recall that part being there.

[snl89]

Posted: 9/14/06 at 12:32am

hmm... now i have to go watch the trailers again and see if I can find it. haha

I know they did have some stuff in the trailers though that werent in the movie. For example, they have a shot that looks like Benny crying at Angels funeral, but I THINK that was actually just a practical joke played by taye, and I guess they decided to use some of the footage from it hahaha. But yeah, cause I know he went like totally over-the-top-emotional for one take when they were shooting that scene, just to make Chris think he was a terrible actor hehe. So yeah, I guess if they used that its totally possible they used other stuff from other takes that didn't make it into the final cut

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 9/14/06 at 1:00am

Now see, the more I see the movie, the more I think its one of the worst movie musical adaptations of a Broadway show of all time.

But like I said when I first saw the film, if it can speak to young people than so be it. I mean, its not unusual for people on this board to say they developed a love for musical theatre based on seeing the film versions of ANNIE and A CHORUS LINE, and those movies are absolutely horrible.

So if the film of RENT can somehow inspire a new fan of the genre, than I'm happy.

[NJRae]

Posted: 9/14/06 at 7:58am

"The movie leaves it unclear whether Benny is cheating on Alison with Mimi near the end of the film. This should've been explained better."

I never really noticed that, but when I watched with my aunt, at the point where Benny said that it was Mimi who changed his mind, my aunt asked if Mimi had cheated on Roger. Well a minute or so later Mimi does say that they had a thing once but it was however many years ago.

But that was when I really missed "Happy New Year". That song would have totally cleared things up for her!

"I know they did have some stuff in the trailers though that werent in the movie. For example, they have a shot that looks like Benny crying at Angels funeral, but I THINK that was actually just a practical joke played by taye,"

According to Wilson there is a whole gag/bloopers reel that he thought was going to be an extra on the dvd.

[best12bars]

Posted: 9/14/06 at 8:53am

I liked the movie quite a bit, and found it very effective.

[landryjames2]

Posted: 9/14/06 at 3:29pm

I found the movie very entertaining, but thought it was very poorly directed.

As a Wicked movie is inevitable even if a few years in the future, a horrifying thought hit me. I hope that Christopher Columbus does not get his hands on it. He has struck out with fantasy (in my book, the first 2 Harry Potter movies were beyond boring), and struck out with a musical--Rent. I can't imagine what a mess he would make with a musical fantasy.

[tinadoll]

Posted: 9/14/06 at 3:35pm

Not a fan of the show. Didn't like the movie.

I know i am going to get flack for that. If you like this movie/show, more power to ya.

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 9/14/06 at 3:47pm

I'm by no means a RENT fan; I have a love/hate relationship with the show. I thought that the movie had some huge flaws though, mostly to do with Columbus. Like setting it in 1989... And the marriage scene. This has NOTHING to do with political views; I was more bothered by how it was so unnecessary and how it showed Joanne's parents being all approving when they really wouldn't have been. Also April not dying from HIV was a bad choice IMO; in the musical Roger's lack of closure is a big issue.

I agree with Mimi leaving during "Another Day"... I was like "Roger, why don't you just... go back inside if you want her to shut up?" Oh, and don't get me started on the Bon Jovi music video during "What You Own" and having Roger come back during it... "Oh, hey best friend whom I haven't seen for a while! Am I going to hug you or give some exclamation of glee when I see you? Nah, I think I'll just keep singing about how we're living in America at the end of a millenium and so on and so forth."

Tracy Thomas was brilliant, but I didn't like Rosario Dawson as Mimi. I didn't think she put enough emotion into the songs. And she had no vibrato, which drove me nuts.

RENT was better than Phantom, though. Not that it's hard!

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 9/14/06 at 3:50pm

Columbus, you realize, was on the one who made the changes setting the film in 1989 and adding the gay marriage scene...

[MrMidwest]

Posted: 9/14/06 at 4:07pm

Isn't that pretty much what she just said?

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 9/14/06 at 4:09pm

My bad, I thought she said the flaws weren't Columbus fault. I agree with all her points.

[MrMidwest]

Posted: 9/14/06 at 4:45pm

I personally wasn't bothered by the commitment ceremony scene in the same way some people were. I mean, this is New York we're talking about, I'm sure there were a few commitment ceremonies going on, even back then. I was only bothered by the way Take Me or Leave Me was staged.

I can understand the point about Joanne's parents, but having her parents be pretty cool about Maureen and Joanne's relationship isn't a problem for me. Joanne is uptight and anal-retentive, but she's not uncomfortable with being gay, so I can imagine that her parents wouldn't necessarily have a problem with it either. Infact, I can imagine her parents being a lot more liberal and open-minded than her. It often seems to work out that kids turn out the complete opposite of how their parents are politically.

I would've liked to have seen Maureen's character show some more growth in the movie. By the end she still doesn't seem to get where Joanne is coming from, which has always bothered me.

[snl89]

Posted: 9/14/06 at 4:56pm

I actually really enjoyed a lot of the little stuff Chris put in :) like the ceromony was great.. well, ok, that may be a little because anytime idina is on screen I love it and I thought she was absolutely hysterical in that scene haha, but still. All idina obsession aside, it showed even more about Maureen's character, which was important, and it was a good transition into Take Me Or Leave Me. Because, there really ISNT any transition into it in the show, which works fine for the show because thats all just in the way its staged, but in the movie they couldn't very well have just cut to them fighting. You know? so I thought he handled it pretty well

Yes, yes, I def agree about the whole what you own thing- what you own was the ONE part of the movie that was... not handled well. But you know what? its like, 3 minutes out of over TWO HOURS of all the other amazing stuff! haha. So, I can deal with 3 minutes of badness for all the goodness of the movie :P

oh and the take me or leave me staging WAS a tiny bit akward, but I mean come on, its STILL a brilliant scene. Again, maybe its just my Idina (and Tracie) bias, but I just was so immersed in their amazingness that I was COMPLETELY able to overlook the fact that its a lil corny to have had everyone follow them. But honestly, even now, its still a great scene, and I actually LOVE watching everyone in the background. It may have been a bit corny, but it made for good entertainment!

and, I actually have to say I agree with Chris on the whole April thing. I mean, is it REALLY necassery for the audience to know she killed herself? I guess it is in the sense that it WOULD have a much stronger affect on Roger than if she just died, but I mean I dont really think that in the grand scheme of things it really changes anything or makes anything less emotional. I think people who KNOW rent are just so used to knowing that fact that they were like "what? they dont show it?". But to the average moviegoer, if you showed them a version with that fact in it and then showed them the current version, I douubt that little detail would really affect what they thought of the movie much. And besides, its not like they didn't TRY to put it in- from a directorial point of view, they honestly just couldn't find anywhere to place it. And I can imagine why. I mean, wouldn't it have been a little graphic to just have it be part of the montage? wouldn't that kind of take away from the emotion of the song? you'd be so focused on what you're SEEING that you wouldn't be paying attention to the song. I agree with him in that it was better to let the song speak for itself.

sorry guys, I SERIOUSLY need to learn how not to ramble! lol

Updated On: 9/14/06 at 04:56 PM

[americanboy99]

Posted: 9/14/06 at 4:59pm

Love the show. The movie just never worked for me.

[actor]

Posted: 9/14/06 at 10:01pm

I loved the show and the movie. However, I can watch the show a million times, but I can only sit through the entire movie once. I think the movie is great, but there isn't the excitement of being in the theatre with the set, the cast, and the people right in front of you, not inside a tv screen. It just seems more moving during the play.

One bad thing about the movie was that they cut "Goodbye Love" and they didn't really do a good job with "Over the Moon". It seemed too over the top and too electric.

I liked the Mimi from the movie better than any other Mimi I've ever seen. She has such a great voice!