Rent [UMD for PSP]
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Taye DiggsBrand: Sony
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); English (Original Language); French (Dubbed)
Format: Color, Dolby, Dubbed, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: Anamorphic Widescreen, 1.78:1
Running Time: 135 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2006-02-21
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
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Movie Reviews of Rent [UMD for PSP]
Movie Review: Not the Broadway show but still a compelling musical experience
Summary: 5 Stars
I am still not yet to the point where I have grown tired of watching my favorite parts of this musical (or listening to them when I am driving in my car and away from my DVD players). Ironically the touring company was next door in Wisconsin when the movie came out on DVD, but it will be back in a couple of weeks and I have tickets to go see it, even though it means driving from the shores of one Great Lake to another, because I really want to see what the show is like on stage. What I do know at this point is that I like the music more than the characters, and the soundtrack more than the original cast album, although the legion of Rentheads out there may be horrified by such sentiments. But then I never really related to the original Bohemian characters in Puccini's opera either. I swear that Roger (Adam Pascal) looks like Moebius the Living-Vampire from Marvel comics and I cannot get past that idea. I should be able to identify with would-be filmmaker Mark Cohen (Anthony Rapp), but I like his ability to tango more than the cinematic style of his work. Mimi (Rosario Dawson) is sexy, but dying, and Joanee (Tracie Thoms) and Maureen (Idina Menzel) cannot wholly commit to the idea that opposites attract. As for Benjamin (Taye Diggs), the dude is definitely slumming.
The characters that I really care about are Tom Collins (Jesse L. Martin) and Angel (Wilson Jermaine Heredia) because I think they best represent love amongst this group of friends. I know that Mimi and Roger are supposed to be the main couple ("Light My Candle"), and that Maureen and Joanne are a truly combustible couple ("Take Me or Leave Me"), but the real love story is Angel and Collins and when I reduce the dynamic of "Rent" to a pair of songs I point to "I'll Cover You" and its reprise. So even when logic dictates that this movie should be rated at 4.5 at best, I think of that final shot in the film of Angel and I have to round up become of its poignancy (the alternative ending, the smile on Tom's face when Angel walks by and holds his hand for a minute is almost as transcendent).
Turning some of the songs into dialogue so it is not wall-to-wall singing was not necessary from my perspective. I am perfectly willing to listen to musicals or operas that are music and all singing from start to finish. Still, I appreciate the attempt to give the story a bit more dramatic weight by doing so. Ultimately, what is so appealing about the music in "Rent" are the harmonies, as amply demonstrated by "Seasons of Love." Ultimately, the emotions matter more than the words. Is "La Boheme" any less effective because most of us do not know precisely what they are singing? After all, one of the most famous arias in the opera is Colline saying goodbye to his coat. When "Life Support," "Will I" and "Another Day" combine at the end to make up "Finale B," the lyrics are simplistic, but the emotional effect is (here comes the word again) transcendent, even compared to something like the sextet from "Lucia di Lammermoor." In other words, the sound and fury signify a lot in "Rent," and if in the end it all comes down to love that is not exactly a bad thing. Plus, with the six voices at the end (eight if you do the alternative version), I think most of us can find a vocal part to sing along with well within our comfort range, not that it stops us from switching parts and trying to be more ambitious. Larson also provides so many different types of songs that every couple of songs something in a style you really like comes along.
I really like the soundtrack more than the original cast recording. Of course, six of the original cast are here, so I should point out that not only do I think that those six have brought a decade's worth of experiencing singing these songs to their performances but that the two newbies add something to the mix. Martin's "Santa Fe" and reprise of "I'll Cover You" evidence a great deal more depth as he puts his younger self to shame. One my favorite vocal moments is in "Goodbye Love" when the voices of the two newcomers, Dawson and Thoms, blend and power through, "I'd be happy to die for a taste of what Angel had, someone to live for, unafraid to say I love you." The biggest heresy would be that I like the way "Finale B" is played straight for the emotional impact of Mimi's revival instead of the mock deus ex machina of the original (off) Broadway production.
Again, I realize that those who have seen the musical can hold the exact opposite position and I fully appreciate that seeing the show live, especially songs like "Over the Moon," is something different from this film. Beyond that, producer Rob Cavallo, known for his work with Green Day, did a great job of updating the sound for the 21st century. As for director Chris Columbus, it taking this particular musical to the streets he did not make it to the sacred heights of "West Side Story," but I think "Rent" works a lot better than the likes of "Hair" and "Godspell" on the big scream. Several of his montages, most notably for "Without You," are quite effective, but I understand that some fans will not be able to get beyond the fact "Goodbye Love" is relegated to the deleted scenes. The bottom line is that my affection for this movie is based more on the ear connected to the heart than the eye linked to the brain, and I will just leave it at that. I certainly understand why so many people find "Rent" so profoundly moving.
Summary of Rent [UMD for PSP]
RENT - 3? Mini DVD for PHRent, the show that in 1996 gave voice to a Broadway generation, has finally become an energetic, passionate, and touching movie musical. Based loosely on Puccini's La Bohème, it focuses on the year in the life of a group of friends in New York's East Village--"bohemians" who live carefree lives of art, music, sex, and drugs. Well, carefree until Mark, an aspiring filmmaker (Anthony Rapp), and Roger, an aspiring songwriter (Adam Pascal), find out they owe a year's rent to Benny (Taye Diggs), a former friend who had promised them free residence when he married the landlord's daughter. Roger has also attracted the attention of his downstairs neighbor, Mimi (Rosario Dawson), while Mark's former girlfriend, Maureen (Idina Menzel), has found a new romance in a lawyer named Joanne (Tracie Thoms). Philosophy professor Tom (Jesse L. Martin) finds his soul mate in drag queen Angel (Wilson Jermaine Heredia). But because this is the late-'80s, the threat of AIDS is always present.
The remarkable thing about Rent the movie is that nearly 10 years after the show debuted on Broadway, six of the eight principals return in the roles they originated. They're a bit older than would be ideal for their characters, but they do have the advantage of having learned the show directly from creator Jonathan Larson (who died of an aortic aneurysm while the show was in previews), plus they started young--we're not exactly talking Sarah Brightman and Michael Crawford here. Alongside a polished performance like Rapp's--sometimes observer-commentator, sometimes participant in two of the score's showstoppers, "The Tango Maureen" and "La Vie Boheme"--the two new additions (Thoms in place of Fredi Walker, Dawson in place of the edgier Daphne Rubin-Vega) slip comfortably into the ensemble; the pivotal Dawson makes a seductive case as Mimi when she tempts Roger in the mesmerizing "Light My Candle" or burns up the stage of the Catscratch Club in "Out Tonight." Moviegoers who have an aversion to people who break into song while walking down the street probably won't have their minds changed by Rent (even if they are singing rock songs), and the gritty subject matter and lack of big-name stars make it unlikely to cross over to general audiences the way Chicago did. But fans of musicals should find "Seasons of Love" as stirring as ever, and the show's passionate admirers--the "Rentheads"--probably couldn't have wished for a more sympathetic director than Rent fan Chris Columbus, or a more faithful representation of the show they love. --David Horiuchi
On the DVD
Three powerful musical numbers cut from the final film are the highlight of the two-disc DVD. In the aftermath of the funeral scene, Anthony Rapp sings "Halloween," and he, Adam Pascal, and Rosario Dawson share "Goodbye Love" (both songs were in the stage version). Then in an alternate ending, the cast finishes "No Day But Today" on the bare stage on which the film began. There are worthwhile arguments for why these scenes were cut or replaced, so it's fortunate that the DVD lets us see these at all. Those musical numbers have optional commentary by director Chris Columbus, Rapp, and Pascal (two other cut scenes have no commentary), including one funny moment in which Rapp explains in great detail the technical challenge of shooting "Halloween" only to have Columbus say, "Yeah, but I don't know if that's the take we used." The three also provide commentary on the film itself, with Columbus discussing various decisions, criticizing the critics, and marveling "I still don't know how we got the PG-13," and Rapp and Pascal occasionally recalling differences in the stage version.
The other whopper of a feature is No Day But Today, a nearly two-hour documentary that uses video clips, still photographs, and interviews with family and friends to celebrate the short life of Jonathan Larson and his creation. Topics include his early interest in musical theater ("I want to write the Hair for the '90s."), the support of Stephen Sondheim, the impact of the AIDS epidemic, the long and difficult road of Rent (casting the show, Larson learning to collaborate, the transfer to a Broadway stage, and the Rentheads), and Larson's tragic death. The last 20 minutes covers the making of the film, director Chris Columbus, the decision to rely on most of the original cast (the only two principals who didn't appear in the movie, Daphne Rubin-Vega and Fredi Walker-Browne, are interviewed in earlier segments, but only mentioned in passing here), recording sessions, and location shooting. If the movie of Rent was a tribute to Jonathan Larson, the DVD is all that and more, a moving and incredibly detailed look at an extraordinary talent whom the world lost far too soon. --David Horiuchi
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