IT COULD HAVE SAVED THE FILM!!! (Rent Alternate Ending) — Page 6

I agree that the ending shot of Angel was amazing. But once i saw the alternate ending, i feel in love with it. When Angel touches Collins hand - so nice... i admite that the alternate ending might've been better for the show. None of my friends that i went to see it with understood why Angel was the last shot...i think the alternate ending shows it better.

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What's not to understand about why Angel is in the last shot? Did they... pay attention?

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Seriously, I'm confused!

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I think that the original ending suited the movie better. HOWEVER, standing alone, I adore the alternate ending. It gives me goosebumps and I cry each time I see it. I think that the alternate ending brings everything full circle, since the movie starts with SOL on the stage, but I think the original ending drives the message home more. I think that the alternate ending would've confused people who don't understand the story that well.

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Oh Sherry...that was so deep. Thank you for enlightening us all with your brilliant insights and innovative examples.

This has been a very interesting thread, with excellent arguments on both sides, and my remarks will change no one's opinion, nor am I trying to. This is just my take for whatever it's worth. Let me preface my comments by saying that I came to discover RENT late in the game, and I have not seen it on Broadway. That said, I came to the movie with essentially a fresh eye. My spouse is not familiar with the storyline, except for having heard my OBC cd, and came to the show with no preconceived notions whatever. We both preferred the film ending, as opposed to the alternate-ending. Ending with Mark's movie, and the end shot of Angel, who was in so many ways the life-force that held the friends together, was fitting and packed an emotional wallop.
I liked the alternate ending, too, and I can well understand why this would work well on the stage, especially as you are aware that it is live, with actors, who will probably be taking a curtain call shortly, anyway. However, it does encourage an emotional disconnect from what we've just seen for a movie audience, especially one not attached to the stage show. On stage, it must have a beautiful sweetness.
Essentially, movies and theatre are entirely different media, and what works for one, does not necessarily work for the other.

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The only thing that could've saved the film for me would've been if there had been a horrible accident during the New Years Eve fireworks that wiped out the entire cast; therefore saving me from the rest of that bore of a movie.

I agree 110% with capn. I thought the same exact thing when I watched the alternate ending. I liked the movie as it was but I got chills and nearly started to tear up JUST by watching the ending. If put at the end of the movie after watching it in its entirety, I think I would have cried buckets and it would have had a much stronger emotional impact.

I completely agree that the ended should have been different. I haven't seen the alternate on the dvd yet, but when I saw the movie, I didn't like the ending. I said that it should have been ended just like it started with "Seasons of Love." I didn't even know until today that was how it ended in the show. Sounds so much better. I can't wait to see the alternate on the dvd.

Chalk me up for the loves-it-but-understands-why column. I watched the alternate ending once first without commentary, and the thoughts I had basically mirrored what Columbus talked about in the commentary. It's really neat, it's nifty, but it causes too much of a disconnect in the viewer's mind to carry the emotion and energy into the end of the film. (It also doesn't help that he used the behind-the-line shot again, which I find to me the most distracting shot of the stage scenes.)

As for Halloween and Goodbye Love... when I first saw the film, I thought they should have been left in. Now that I've seen how they were filmed, I agree they should have been left out. Halloween doesn't really share much new information and would case the film to just stand still for a bit at a time when it wanted desperately to move. The cigarette exchange was right to cut for exactly the reasons they gave. As for the second half of Goodbye Love itself, I don't think the problem lies in the song itself, it lies in the way it was shot. Specifically, it drags. It takes too long to start, with yet another infamous pan-up-to-loft shot. To make it work, we needed to get into it faster, like how it happens on the OBC recording. (When I first saw some photos of Goodbye Love being shot, I had assumed that the argument takes place in the cemetary as Mark chases after Roger.) And I think Mimi's bit at the end with rushing to the window is the part that is most guilty of the over-the-top effect they claimed the song was causing. So basically, if they had paced it better, Goodbye Love would have worked. The way they shot it, it would have just dragged the ending, despite the crucial argument scene it contains. Same reason Benny's conversation with Roger near the end needed to go.

As for What You Own, there are two things I would have done differently. First, I wouldn't have started it as a Mark voice-over. It takes some of the power out of it for me to not see Mark actually sing those lines. Second, as we've all discussed, the damn cliff needed to go. I would have had Roger walking along a highway or at least some sort of road to maintain *some* kind of symmetry with Mark's walking-down-the-road shots. This is actually my biggest gripe with the movie, because that choice seems obvious to me. What You Own is my favorite song from the show, and I was extremely disappointed in the way it plays out.

Oh, and just to save some of you the trouble, I've written your next post for you: Boo. The Rent movie sucked. Chris Columbus is the worst director (for this material/in the history of mankind). And I loved/hated the stage production. (Circle those terms which apply.)

It's probably been said (I don't have time to read through all 6 pages), but the alternate ending is a cute little thing for all the Rentheads familiar with the stage version, but otherwise, it doesn't make much sense--- it takes you out of the moment because there is no reason these characters (including a dead one) should be singing on a stage.

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I finally watched the extras on the DVD and the alternate ending was incredible. I just watched it totally out of context without watching the movie on DVd beforehand. It was stunning. Once you put them back on stage and with the empty spotlight - I was done. I immediately started to cry (unlike the movie ending) and was bemoaning the fact that THIS was not the true ending. Totally powerful - totally awesome. Would've been awesome IN the movie.