The movie version of "Rent" is neither as bad as it might have been, nor as good as one would hope. It's a film that flirts with greatness, and may actually achieve it in some places, but can never seem to do so with any consistency.
Jonathan Larson's musical, an update of "La Boheme," is basically a series of vignettes that follows a year in the lives of several starving artists and rebels, living in the face of poverty and AIDS and trying to avoid selling out to corporate conformity--which, if you were a college kid in the late 90s when "Rent" premiered, really did feel like the worst thing that could happen to you. Of course, much worse befell the world on other end of the millennium, and in 2005 the material feels almost innocent in spite of the alternative lifestyles and seedy living. But the cast knows how to sell it, and well they should: six of the eight principal players originated their roles on Broadway. (The newcomers, Rosario Dawson and Tracie Thoms, fit into the group seamlessly) This means, of course, that they are no longer the fresh young faces they were back then (Jesse L. Martin and Taye Diggs have carved out screen careers; Idina Menzel has a Tony award), but frankly this doesn't bother me much. I'd rather watch this group of talented performers play a little under their age than suffer Brittney Spears or Justin Timberlake--or any wannabe clones thereof--any day.
It goes without saying that the cast knows how to give a song dramatic impact, and when director Chris Columbus gives them the tools to do their job, "Rent" is very good indeed. "Out Tonight," the exotic dancer Mimi's (Dawson) call to the nightlife, carries the right balance of liberated joy and desperate longing. A duet where filmmaker Mark (Anthony Rapp) and lawyer Joanne (Thoms) lament being wrapped around the fingers of bisexual flirt Maureen (Menzel) is staged and performed effectively, and segues into a delightful dream-sequence tango. And when one of the central group of friends succumbs to AIDS, the resulting memorial service is every bit as moving as it should be.
Unfortunately, Columbus doesn't always know how to channel the talents of his cast. For example, there's the non-conformist anthem "La Vie Boheme," in which a gathering of the young and rebellious celebrate a life of "going against the grain, going insane, going mad" and "being an 'us' for once, instead of a 'them'." If ever there was a song in music theater that begged for high-energy, kinetic camera work, it is this one. Yet Columbus films it in static shots and slow pans, which almost deaden the energy from the cast--there's just so much dancing on tables that one can take before it starts to feel stale. At other times, Columbus makes the same mistake Joel Schumacher did in "Phantom of the Opera" of having movement without purpose. Mimi and Roger (Adam Pascal) step out into an alleyway to share a love duet. They stand and sing for a while, move a few steps down the alley, stand and sing again, then walk back. Why did they move at all? If the answer isn't immediately obvious, then the blocking needs to be rethought.
Ever since the financial and Oscar success of "Chicago," studios seem to be searching for the next big movie musical. "Rent" tries, and it comes tantalizingly close, but doesn't quite get the brass ring. Here's hoping next month's "The Producers" nabs it.
Jonathan Larson's musical, an update of "La Boheme," is basically a series of vignettes that follows a year in the lives of several starving artists and rebels, living in the face of poverty and AIDS and trying to avoid selling out to corporate conformity--which, if you were a college kid in the late 90s when "Rent" premiered, really did feel like the worst thing that could happen to you. Of course, much worse befell the world on other end of the millennium, and in 2005 the material feels almost innocent in spite of the alternative lifestyles and seedy living. But the cast knows how to sell it, and well they should: six of the eight principal players originated their roles on Broadway. (The newcomers, Rosario Dawson and Tracie Thoms, fit into the group seamlessly) This means, of course, that they are no longer the fresh young faces they were back then (Jesse L. Martin and Taye Diggs have carved out screen careers; Idina Menzel has a Tony award), but frankly this doesn't bother me much. I'd rather watch this group of talented performers play a little under their age than suffer Brittney Spears or Justin Timberlake--or any wannabe clones thereof--any day.
It goes without saying that the cast knows how to give a song dramatic impact, and when director Chris Columbus gives them the tools to do their job, "Rent" is very good indeed. "Out Tonight," the exotic dancer Mimi's (Dawson) call to the nightlife, carries the right balance of liberated joy and desperate longing. A duet where filmmaker Mark (Anthony Rapp) and lawyer Joanne (Thoms) lament being wrapped around the fingers of bisexual flirt Maureen (Menzel) is staged and performed effectively, and segues into a delightful dream-sequence tango. And when one of the central group of friends succumbs to AIDS, the resulting memorial service is every bit as moving as it should be.
Unfortunately, Columbus doesn't always know how to channel the talents of his cast. For example, there's the non-conformist anthem "La Vie Boheme," in which a gathering of the young and rebellious celebrate a life of "going against the grain, going insane, going mad" and "being an 'us' for once, instead of a 'them'." If ever there was a song in music theater that begged for high-energy, kinetic camera work, it is this one. Yet Columbus films it in static shots and slow pans, which almost deaden the energy from the cast--there's just so much dancing on tables that one can take before it starts to feel stale. At other times, Columbus makes the same mistake Joel Schumacher did in "Phantom of the Opera" of having movement without purpose. Mimi and Roger (Adam Pascal) step out into an alleyway to share a love duet. They stand and sing for a while, move a few steps down the alley, stand and sing again, then walk back. Why did they move at all? If the answer isn't immediately obvious, then the blocking needs to be rethought.
Ever since the financial and Oscar success of "Chicago," studios seem to be searching for the next big movie musical. "Rent" tries, and it comes tantalizingly close, but doesn't quite get the brass ring. Here's hoping next month's "The Producers" nabs it.