"RENT" Movie Discussion

[ucjrdude902]

Posted: 6/10/12 at 4:35pm

I saw it was on TV and decided to watch it well some what watch it but this is my question, it didn't seem to be that successful. Why didn't RENT work on film? Thoughts? Was the original game plan to get the original cast back together or did it happen that way because other stars didn't work out?

Updated On: 6/10/12 at 04:35 PM

[blaxx]

Posted: 6/10/12 at 4:55pm

Congrats! You just opened a can of worms

[ucjrdude902]

Posted: 6/10/12 at 4:56pm

Haha I didn't mean to. I just watched it for the first time today and was curious.

[blaxx]

Posted: 6/10/12 at 5:00pm

I wouldn't even know where to start. Since the film was announced there have been a gazillion threads about it. My personal favorites included Anthony Rapp posting here to defend it at all costs - it was epic.

Updated On: 6/10/12 at 05:00 PM

[dramamama611]

Posted: 6/10/12 at 5:01pm

You could search for the other threads that talked extensively when the film was released.

And it was purposeful to get the OBC together.

[californiasnow]

Posted: 6/10/12 at 5:03pm

A great time can be had with a glass of your favorite adult beverage and the DVD commentary with Chris Columbus, Adam, and Anthony. If you take a drink every time someone says "that should have been nominated", you'll be in danger of alcohol poisoning by the end.

[rosscoe(au)]

Posted: 6/10/12 at 5:12pm

Or Anthony Rapp asking someone to change there review into something more friendly. Ah good times, nothing but good times!

[amoni2]

Posted: 6/10/12 at 6:46pm

'A great time can be had with a glass of your favorite adult beverage and the DVD commentary with Chris Columbus, Adam, and Anthony. If you take a drink every time someone says "that should have been nominated", you'll be in danger of alcohol poisoning by the end."

Can you pinpoint around when that happens? I'd like to pull out my DVD and check that out since almost all DVD commentaries are recorded before the picture is actually released on the big screen, so they wouldn't have even known how the picture did.

The problem with the movie was Chris Columbus. He loved the show and then proceeded to change everything that made it successful. He changed songs to dialog, and the worst sin is he shot it in San Francisco and it had zero NY vibe.

[AwesomeDanny]

Posted: 6/11/12 at 12:43am

I remember in that commentary, Anthony and Adam would comment on something that was different from the show and ever time, Chris Columbus would say "Oh, really? I didn't know that!" After a while, it felt like he had never actually seen the show.

[jimmycurry01]

Posted: 6/11/12 at 1:16am

Can you pinpoint around when that happens? I'd like to pull out my DVD and check that out since almost all DVD commentaries are recorded before the picture is actually released on the big screen, so they wouldn't have even known how the picture did.

If they did record the commentary after the film was released then the commentary should have been filled with apologies like Joel Schumacher's commentary for Batman and Robin.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 6/11/12 at 1:21am

The problem in a nutshell is that Columbus was as wrong a director as you could have ever chosen for this. Someone like David Fincher would have made it what it needed to be - dirty, gritty and raw. Instead it was cute, family friendly and suitable for tween sleepovers.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 6/11/12 at 1:26am

ReNt is the best movie ever can't wait to see on it on stage and dvd! ... reNt!!!!!

[LYLS3637]

Posted: 6/11/12 at 10:02am

I place the blame on whomever asked Stephen Chbosky to just edit down the book/score.

If you're going to keep the lyrics of the songs, have the actors sing them! It is a musical after all.

That being said-- having most of the original cast preserved on film in those roles is pretty special. Plus the "Take Me or Leave Me" scene is pretty fantastic.

Updated On: 6/11/12 at 10:02 AM

[Roscoe]

Posted: 6/11/12 at 10:12am

Very near the opening of the film, Collins is attacked by some thugs. In order to escape, he runs into a dark alley.

I mean, think about that for a second. Collins runs INTO a dark alley in order to escape a mugging.

And that's only the start of the foolishness.

[finebydesign]

Posted: 6/11/12 at 10:39am

"He changed songs to dialog, and the worst sin is he shot it in San Francisco and it had zero NY vibe."

I thought the film felt very "musical NYC" didn't have a problem with the "vibe." I did have a problem with the old cast members. Part of a translation to film is getting age right. They should have been really young people. That changed the vibe completely for me.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 6/11/12 at 10:40am

I think one of the reasons it didn't work was people only somewhat watched it.

[DEClarke]

Posted: 6/11/12 at 11:40am

These is much I dislike about the film, like rhyming dialog. WOW! Also, I would have loved for them to actually try and present "Christmas Bells" on film, but oh well.

With that said, I liked the use of the OBC. Sure they were all too old for their roles, but this proved they were somewhat concerned about fans of the show liking the movie. But... then the FINAL BROADWAY TOUR of RENT traveled through Texas and I saw Anthony and Adam in Austin and Houston, and now I feel like I don't need the movie to fill that void for me anymore. So... meh.

The movie is meh. It's nice if you like the OBC. But it definitely has many many flaws.

[Adam Chris]

Posted: 6/11/12 at 12:14pm

I felt a few scenes gems, but overall, the movie was a distaster. Chris Columbus approached the material in an applogistic manner, as if he was uncomfortable with the singing. I agree, turning the lesser songs into dialog was a terrible idea. It sucked out the joy and fluidity from the story. It reminded me of when I was in the passanger seat of someone learning to drive. It went fast and then the breaks were used, it went fast again and then the breaks were used, and so on. For example, you'd sit through the song RENT and then suddenly  silence. It was jarring. But this is what I could not understand he actually filmed an ending scene that I really liked, one that seemed full of hope and optimism, but scrapped the idea. The scrapped idea, I felt, matched the beginning of the move and bookend the show very nicely. The ending he went with was a downer.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 6/11/12 at 12:21pm

but this proved they were somewhat concerned about fans of the show liking the movie

Meh, I thought the "it's the original cast!" cries (when seven other cast members - not including Daphne and Fredi - were forgotten) were as craven and cynical as the claims that the movie hewed very close to the stage show.

Updated On: 6/11/12 at 12:21 PM

[Bwaydide92]

Posted: 6/11/12 at 1:44pm

Daphne and Fredi were not forgotten. They either couldn't do the movie or chose not too. Dawson and Thoms were only cast after they couldn't get the others. They rest of the leads were from The Original Broadway Cast.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 6/11/12 at 1:47pm

That's not what I said.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 6/11/12 at 1:50pm

What you said about Daphne is simply false.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 6/11/12 at 1:52pm

True.

[RainbowJude]

Posted: 6/14/12 at 11:52am

ucjrdude902 wrote: Why didn't RENT work on film?

It was badly directed and badly adapted. It didn't help that RENT itself is already deeply flawed, but its inherent flaes were never going to be addressed on film, so I guess that point is moot.

Jordan Catalano wrote: The problem in a nutshell is that Columbus was as wrong a director as you could have ever chosen for this. Someone like David Fincher would have made it what it needed to be - dirty, gritty and raw.

Christopher Columbus was definitely a bad match for the material. David Fincher misses as often as he hits, so I wouldn't have chosen him either. I think my ideal pick would have been Mike Nichols.

LYLS3637 wrote: If you're going to keep the lyrics of the songs, have the actors sing them! It is a musical after all.

This is one of the many riduclous choices made in the adaptation. How is it that nobody realised that lyrics are heightened, much like blank verse is heightened, and can't simply be delivered as speech outside of the rehearsal room where that can sometimes be a useful exercise, but nothing more.

[SonofRobbieJ]

Posted: 6/14/12 at 12:06pm

FINCHER NEVER MISSES!

(sorry...fave director...I abide no criticism...yes, I know that's crazy).

My biggest problem with the adaptation was the fact that all my favorite musical sequences were excised from the piece.