Posted: 11/25/2005

Rent

(2005)

by Erin Paulson

RENT is a musical that tells the story of a group of friends living in poverty and with AIDS in the early 90’s in New York City. I have spent much of the past few months apprehensively anticipating this movie. RENT is my favorite musical, and I was afraid of Chris Columbus’ (Stepmom, Harry Potter 1 & 2) direction of it. I have never been in doubt of my dislike of Mr. Columbus, but fortunately it turned out that with original material as good as Jonathan Larson’s musical play, there is little even a mediocre director like Columbus can do to damage it. A very smart move on the filmmakers’ parts was to cast the film with as much of the original Broadway cast as possible. This includes Anthony Rapp as the lone observer and documentary filmmaker Mark, Adam Pascal as the emotionally detached singer/songwriter Roger, Taye Diggs as the sell-out asshole Benny, Jesse L. Martin as the lovable and generous Collins, Wilson Jermaine Heredia as the vivacious drag-queen Angel, and Idina Menzel as the ever-flirtatious performer Maureen. New on the cast list are Rosario Dawson as Mimi, the beautiful nightclub dancer who falls for Roger, and Tracie Thoms as Joanne, Maureen’s new girlfriend.

There is a difference between most musicals and RENT - in the majority of musicals the story stands still while the characters burst into song. RENT instead seizes on the songs as opportunity to convey the story. They move the story along just as dialog does in most narratives, and although this technique at first seems awkward and forced, it quickly seems to make more sense than the stop and go variety of storytelling. The film provides an opportunity to feel closer to these characters, to truly connect with them, to love them as they love each other.

This isn’t to say that the film is flawless, for it is far from it. Much like the play itself, the film begins awkwardly, leaving the audience unconvinced that a film adaptation was called for with this musical. It seems almost forced, and left me quite uncomfortable before I could recall that the play itself had the same effect on me. It isn’t until Roger’s solo song, One Song Glory, that the music and story begin to win over the audience. From that point onward, Larson’s amazing harmonies and story are all that seems to occupy the mind. However, I was left quite appalled by the choice to remove part of Good-bye Love, a song that turns effortlessly from a group song between each of the major characters to a duet between Mark and Roger, and finally to a duet between Roger and Mimi. In my opinion this song is and has always been the emotional core of RENT - the song that gives dimension not only to Roger and Mimi’s relationship, but also to the character of Mark. Sadly without this song shown in its entirety, there is little more to Mark’s character than the one-dimensional observer he is presented as.

On the whole I must begrudgingly admit that Chris Columbus did a rather decent job adapting this musical for the screen, with help from screenwriter Stephen Chbosky (who happened to write one of my most adored novels, The Perks of Being a Wallflower). They knew to leave well enough alone, that the late Larson’s work speaks for itself, and there was surprisingly little meddling involved as a result. In the end, that is why the film is successful. It is as faithful to the original musical as anyone could hope from a film adaptation. It will make you smile, and it will make you weep, and it will make you glad you gave two hours of your time to it.

Erin Paulson is a critic and photographer living in Chicago.

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