|
Rent |
||
|
By : Suzanne Philips |
||
| Rent - based on the hugely
successful Broadway show by Jonathan Larson - is the story of 8 friends
living in the Alphabet City area of New York, who learn to live, love, and
just survive with poverty, AIDS, and prejudice in early 1990's America. Director Chris Columbus (Home Alone, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone) was able to get the entire original Broadway cast, including Taye Diggs (How Stella Got Her Groove Back), Idina Menzel Diggs (Wicked) and Jesse L. Martin (Law & Order) to regroup for this film adaptation with the notable exception of Rosario Dawson (Alexander) stepping into the role of stripper/junkie Mimi. It is always difficult taking a successful musical theatre production and moving it to the big screen. Many times it doesn't translate well at all - making the whole film just not work for audiences. RENT works....on a big level. Director Columbus did a fantastic job of just following the lives of these characters without interfering. It is almost like watching a documentary in that sense (something the character of Mark (Anthony Rapp - A Beautiful Mind) would probably enjoy. The set design and lighting is really wonderful, the colors are vivid and practically leap off the screen. Columbus uses a nice variety of levels for the blocking of the characters, which means there is always something interesting to see in every scene. Even when the most interesting things are going on behind the main intent of the scene. Kudos to the producers and the director for reuniting almost all of the original cast for this film! You can clearly see why this play was such a hit as not only do the actors show their chops with the musical numbers (which are superb), but their timing with both the dramatic and comedic elements are flawless. I can't even single any one of them in particular out since each is essential to the others performance. Wilson Jermaine Heredia (Flawless) was just outstanding and as he has a couple of other films coming out in the next year, expect to see more great things from him. What makes this show so truthful is the themes that run throughout. Poverty exists and those who are poor or homeless are often treated as less than citizens. AIDS is real, people live with it every day and people die from it every day - yet still lead fairly normal lives. Love really does make the world go round. And sometimes the family you create out of the friends in your life can be more important that the one you were born with. I think this is one of the more successful stage to screen transitions I have seen so I am giving it 4 out of 5. |