December 03, 2005
RENT
Though I should have been studying, my partner and I went to see RENT last night, so I’ll do a brief review. First of all, so you know where I’m coming from, RENT is one of my favorite musicals, and the one I have seen the most frequently. Still, I didn’t mind most of the tinkering they did to make it a movie – though some of it did bother me, or at least seemed like poor choices.
-Spoilers below, if you’ve never seen the musical or the movie-
Overall, it was a solid movie. The performances were strong, and the movie seemed well put together. Jesse Martin (Tom Collins), Wilson Heredia (Angel), and Rosario Dawson (Mimi) were excellent, everyone else was solid. Taye Diggs (Bennie) was probably the weakest, though it may have been a function of how the role was written.
Things I thought were better than the musical
I agree with Chris that the remade Tango scene was great.
I was more impressed with the ‘Sante Fe’ song change. I don’t know why, but simply putting it on the train made it more whimsical – more dreamy. It wasn’t a serious suggestion, just a bunch of people screwing around on a train, playfully saying ‘what if’.
I liked the ‘take me or leave me’ scene, and thought it worked fine. The nod to commitment ceremonies / marriage was nice, and the development of the scene was good (and Maureen’s mother's comment at the end of it all was perfect).
Having the people in the AIDS support group ‘disappear’ during ‘without you’, and ending the focus on Angel was a nice effect, and helped balance the loss of ‘contact’ (see below).
Things that bugged me
Yes, things needed to be cut, but they cut out the pinnacle conflict with Roger and Mark in the cemetery scene - which was too bad (the loss of the Mimi ‘Goodbye Love’ song wasn’t a huge deal). With Roger, though, the deleted scene emphasizes that he’s leaving Mimi because he can’t handle her dying, not because he’s jealous of Benni. And, we hear about Mark’s emotional detachment from people (which was hinted wonderfully in the ‘There’s only this’ scene, but then was forgotten).
I missed the ‘Christmas Bells’ scene, which I’m guessing would have been a nightmare to pull of, due to the inherent chaos of the scene, but was one of my favorite numbers. I also missed the ‘Contact’ scene, though I’m not sure how they would have pulled that off either. It does lead to another issue, though:
They seemed to have completely de-sexed Angel and Collins. The hand holding and ‘tender’ kiss at the and of ‘I'll Cover You’ was the most intimate they got. I suppose they needed the PG rating (which surprised me that they got, actually) and had their hands full with the fact that Angel is a cross-dresser, but still.
The whole scene of Roger going to Sante Fe didn’t work for me. It was too quick, I suppose. It felt like he drove to Sante Fe, bought a guitar, got on a bus, then came back. I’m not sure how it would have worked better, but eh.
Likewise, the ending – which was a little cheesy in the musical, becomes uber cheesy in the movie. A vision (like they did in the Tango scene) would have been better.
Still, don’t let the above make you think I hated it, I didn’t. It was a solid movie, and it was great to see it.
dolphin said (at December 4, 2005 01:24 PM):
I'm a total "Renthead"
I agree that the Tango Maureen was EXCELLENTLY done in the movie. I didn't really appreciate the whole commitment ceremony between Maureen and Jo Anne. I don't mind the idea (though I felt it was more of, as you said, a nod to commitment ceremonies/marriage, than actually something that puchd the plot line forward), but I felt it was a bit over done since the entire scene was more or less a container for "Take me or leave me"
I read Gay.com's upset over the supposed "de-sexing" of Angel and Collins. I have to disagree. In the absence of "Contact" ALL of the chracters were "de-sexed." It may have been for the rating, but I think it's more because "Contact" doesn't directly move the plot along. Everything in a movie needs to mve the plot along. I'd say the most sexual couple in th emovie was Marueen and JoAnne.
One number that I truely love on stage is "We're Ok" but it was missing from film for the same reason as "Contact." Just didn't really move the plot along in any meaningful way.
I agree about Roger in Santa Fe, but like you, I'm not sure how they could have done it differently. He's really only there for "What You Own" even in the stage version. I think maybe it was the jumping around in the desert that just didn't sit right.