rent

FIlm, 2005, 3 stars

Directed: Chris Columbus
Written: Stephen Chbosky (from the Stageplay by Jonathan Larson)

When I saw Rent onstage for the first time, I was struck by the fact that no matter how deeply emotional the subject matter got, there always seemed to be an element of hope. That’s why it works. That’s why it is a stage masterpiece.

The characters are tragic, each in their own way, but they’re authentic. They are also all—except for Angel and Collins—quite self-centred and egotistic. It is only when they truly experience tragedy that they embrace each other as family in that bohemian spirit to which they all aspire. Their year of trials help them all to finally begin to understand the words they've been spouting since the beginning.

The film, like the musical, has incredible casting, many from the original broadway run. Anthony Rapp owns Mark—he originated the role and does a fantastic job here. Rosario Dawson was the “name” imported to lift the star power on the bill, and honestly, her performance blew me away despite her vocals not being strong enough. It is energetic, multi-layered and honest. Roger (Adam Pascal) and Benny (Taye Diggs) were less successful, despite also being from the originating broadway cast or from later productions. For some reason their energy didn’t transfer to the screen.

Joanne and Maureen (Tracy Thoms and Idina Menzel) are incredible. They take the constant love/hate feud that is their relationship and spin it just right. The decision to stage their big fight/duet "Take Me or Leave Me" at their commitment ceremony in front of hundreds of guests was an interesting choice, but it was one of the few scenes that helped lift the film into something that felt contemporary.

My favourite song from the musical "The Tango Maureen" was staged well, with Mark's fantasy lifting him and Joanne from the New York tenements into a ballroom dancing dream world. It was a timely escape from the faux-filth of the sometimes too-obvious art direction that plagues the film. Maureen's performance art piece was also staged well simply because it took advantage of the fact that this is a film, not a stage play. It used a 360 degree space and felt real.

For me, the hero of the film is Jesse L. Martin. As Tom Collins, the down-on-his-luck Uni lecturer who falls for Angel, the fun-loving drag queen, his presence was powerful but not overpowering, and his voice lent a sweetness to the ensemble pieces that really resonated. Again, he owns this character, and it shows.

In fact, as a whole, the casting was well done. The music is as good as it ever was, and the voices were great.

So what in all heck went wrong? Why does the film feel so... dull? So dated? So two-dimensional, and flat? How did someone manage to take one of the greatest rock musicals of all time, with a hyper-talented cast, and make it boring?

In my mind, it was because the whole thing felt staged. They had an opportunity to lift this material and plant it right in the poverty and the squalor from which it came, but it all seemed so fake and limited. The best movie musicals take the source material and lift it out into a fully realised world. I don’t know if this film suffered from low budgets or lack of imagination, but it just doesn’t really work.

With the exception of the centrepiece song "La Vie Boheme". and the already mentioned “Take Me or Leave Me”, the set pieces felt cramped and dull. I'm throwing all the problems at the feet of Chris Columbus. This is the man who took Harry Potter and made it dull. Twice.

This adaptation itself is faithful, but this film version of Rent just isn't visually exciting. I enjoyed it for the music that I love so much, and the cast that did everything they could to make this a success, but in the end the finished product lies in the hands of the director, editor, art director… and they collectively just weren’t imaginative enough to pull this off.

The bar has been set pretty high recently for the return of the modern musical. With its subject matter, Rent should take your breath away and stay with you. Instead it just visits for a while, and leaves no lingering impression. It feels dated, and a little bit embarrassed about it. Considering the source material they had to work with, that's just unforgiveable. What a waste. Give me the same cast but a different creative team—I want a do over.