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Rent (Widescreen Two-Disc Special Edition)
Rent
Widescreen Two-Disc Special Edition
Actors: Taye Diggs, Wilson Jermaine Heredia, Rosario Dawson, Anthony Rapp, Adam Pascal
Directors: Chris Columbus, Jeffrey Schwarz
Genres: Drama, Musicals & Performing Arts
PG-13     2006     2hr 15min

In new yorks east village a group of bohemians struggle to express themselves through their art & strive for success & acceptance while enduring the obstacles of poverty illness & the aids epidemic. Studio: Sony Pictures ...  more »
     
     

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Movie Details

Actors: Taye Diggs, Wilson Jermaine Heredia, Rosario Dawson, Anthony Rapp, Adam Pascal
Directors: Chris Columbus, Jeffrey Schwarz
Creators: Chris Columbus, Allan S. Gordon, Geoffrey Hansen, Jane Rosenthal, Jonathan Larson, Stephen Chbosky
Genres: Drama, Musicals & Performing Arts
Sub-Genres: Love & Romance, Musicals
Studio: Sony Pictures
Format: DVD - Widescreen - Dubbed,Subtitled
DVD Release Date: 02/21/2006
Original Release Date: 11/23/2005
Theatrical Release Date: 11/23/2005
Release Year: 2006
Run Time: 2hr 15min
Screens: Widescreen
Number of Discs: 2
SwapaDVD Credits: 2
Total Copies: 21
Members Wishing: 0
Edition: Special Edition
MPAA Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Languages: English, French
Subtitles: English, French
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Member Movie Reviews

Chad B. (abrnt1) from CABERY, IL
Reviewed on 11/28/2011...
Pointless & very pretensious. It never ceases to amaze me why anyone would think it's a good idea to adapt a musical into a film. Musicals only work onstage.
1 of 3 member(s) found this review helpful.
Hamilton L. (hlempert) from WYOMING, OH
Reviewed on 1/27/2010...
Better than the Play.
2 of 2 member(s) found this review helpful.
Sarah F. (sarahf220) from BALTIMORE, MD
Reviewed on 3/19/2009...
Amazing, inspiring, and a good cause. You'll love the music- and check out the show if you ever get time, its phenomenal!
1 of 3 member(s) found this review helpful.
Vanessa V. (sevenspiders)
Reviewed on 3/13/2009...
I'm a sucker for musicals, I just love it when the characters sing their hearts out about their joys or troubles.

But I couldn't stand this musical. I didn't see the show, but from the movie, I'd have no desire to. All but two of the characters are entirely incredibly self-centered, but we're meant to pity them and their tragic plight? Did I miss something? Why do they think (as they sing in the opening number) that they should be exempt from paying rent like the rest of the world? Why does the heroine think its acceptable for her to cheat on her loving, supportive life-partner at their commitment ceremony? Some of the songs are catchy-ish, but the overall attitude of the characters grated through the whole thing. Yuck. AIDS awareness deserves a better musical.
3 of 7 member(s) found this review helpful.

Movie Reviews

There's Only Yes
Kevin Killian | San Francisco, CA United States | 11/27/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)

"I saw the movie in a beautiful theater in downtown San Francisco on the Saturday after Thanksgiving and was surprised to find so few people in the movie theater--maybe 75 of us, and the theater could have fit 500. I wonder if some of the lukewarm reviews haven't influenced people's decisions to go to RENT. Hope not, for I'm here to tell you, this movie is dynamite and IMHO much, much better than the play. For one thing, in the movie you can hear every word, even with the increased rock instrumentation, for hundreds of sound experts have worked their magic and made sure that even people underwater could hear every single syllable; whereas on stage, it depended from night to night what percentage of the lyrics were going to be coming across the temperamental sound system of the Nederlander (NYC).

I did miss Daphne Rubin-Vega who was incomparably sexy and chilling as Mimi, but I never believed her being in love, and Rosario Dawson looked like she was just 'playing' at being bad and underneath she was ready to fall in love as soon as she saw Roger through the window. Her scenes of addiction are captured in the movie effectively, in a rpaid montage that might disconcert some rentheads but will, I think, be easily understood by those new to the show.

Yes, some of the actors looked older than 20 somethings. But we forget that most of those who died of AIDS in the 1989-90 period were actually in their 30s. What's the big deal? To me, Angel's fate is all the more sad because he seemed to be healthy for so long and then, all of a sudden, well, any more would bring me into spoiler territory.

Idina Menzel is not as over the top as she is on stage, but there's still plenty of fire power there, and she's bigger than anything in the movies since the heyday of Betty Hutton! She looks remarkably beautiful and she doesn't miss a trick; and just when you think she'll overshadow Tracie Thoms as her attorney girlfriend, Joanne, the latter pulls off some memorable comic business and signals her disappointment and regret with her expressive brown eyes. Anthony Rapp is charming as Mark Cohen, he comes off as a tiny terror, I wonder how tall he is, the constant scenes of him snarking down the streets with his fists clenched in anger at his sides, but no one else around to reveal his true proportions--the old Alan Ladd trick. And Adam Pascal is suave and tormented in equal measures as Roger. His eyelashes are so long I expected them to have a special spotlights in the credits, but no.

I have to disagree with the posters who claim that Larson wrote all the best numbers for the men in the cast. Maybe that's personal pleading, but I find the best songs pretty much divided right down the middle. Mimi's "Out Tonight" isn't as exciting as on stage, but it is much more compellingly staged, as Rosario Dawson steps out of the Cat Scratch Club after her shift only to launch into the second verse, and seems to scale the wall of the loft to get to Roger like Catwoman in the third. ("I'll let you make me . . .") "Light My Candle" suffers a little without Daphne Rubin-Vega in it, and Adam Pascal acts as though he knows he's cheating on her with Rosario Dawson. Afterwards he gets his balls back. The ensemble singing of "Will I?" and "Another Day" are perfectly staged and rehearsed, and it's there that I started to lose it. I guess I must have spent the last seventy minutes of the movie in a continual rain of tears. By the end I had to sit through all the credits in a vain attempt to gather composure. The faces of those whom I lost to AIDS flashed before my eyes. Not all of them, but some of them. I did resolve to go out and try to practice love on a grand scale. They got me this time. "No other path, no other way, give in to love or live in fear."

These sentiments are vapid and, in the daylight, seem a little silly, but the beauty and power of the movie is to convince you of their truth. Good work all around. I hope the movie's an enormous success."
La Vie Boheme!
Antoinette Klein | Hoover, Alabama USA | 12/02/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)

"I was born to love "Rent." Having grown up listening to my mother's record of "La Boheme" playing as she did her housework, I anxiously anticipated seeing the Broadway production when I was in New York in 1999. Although, it was superb, the movie version was so much more enjoyable to me, mainly because the words to the beautiful songs were clear and much more understandable. I realize Broadway is a one-shot deal and a movie can have countless takes on a scene, so I'm not putting down the play I loved in any way, just saying the movie was an easier and more enjoyable viewing experience.

From the spectacular opening scene where the full cast sings the beautiful "Seasons of Love," the stage is set for a glorious celebration of life, living it to the fullest, and enjoying every moment. Yes, there is heartbreak on the screen and many moist eyes in the theater, but this is mainly a joyful story of friendship, love, and reaching out to your fellow man.

The acting is superb, lovingly done by actors who obviously relate to their roles in a profound way. Wilson Jermaine excels as Angel, especially in the show-stopping "Today 4 U." Adam Pascal and Rosario Dawson are believable as the romantic leads and Jesse L. Martin will astound his "Law and Order" fans with his rich singing voice and dancing ability. All the cast is marvelous, the show is electric with its high-energy singing and dancing, and overall, the best movie I have seen in a long, long time. I will definitely get the DVD the day it is available."
No Day But Today
Carl Cannella | Colchester, CT, USA | 02/20/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)

"Rent will forever be a legend of musical theatre. Jonathan Larson's intimate and incredibly personal musical went on to win rave reviews, phenominal success, several Tony Awards, and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Larson never got to see the success of his baby, however, as he died of an undiagnosed aeortic aneurism the night of the final dress rehearsal. Would Rent have earned the success it did had the tragedy of Larson's death not thrust the musical into the headlines? Would Larson have approved of the move from a small Off-Broadway theatre to a full-blown Broadway production? What would Larson have done had he been granted a lengthy career? We can never know, but he has left a legacy that even the most wide-eyed dreamer couldn't imagine.

This film has been sputtering around Hollywood for nearly a decade, with directors from Spike Lee to Joel Schumacher attached to direct at various times. Thankfully, Mirimax couldn't agree on how to approach the project, which catapulted no less than four directors from behind the camera, leaving room for the vastly underappreciated Chris Columbus to make his first truly great film. His vision for Rent was one that embraces the show's theatrical roots as opposed to masking them, as in 2002's Chicago. He utilizes no tricks to bring the musical numbers inside the characters' heads, and yet his film manages to be the best movie musical in decades, and yes, that is including the aforementioned razzle dazzle Catherine Zeta-Jones vehicle.

The story itself is rather insignificant. It follows the basic outline of Puccini's classic opera, La Boheme, updated to include drug abuse, AIDS, homosexuality, drag queens, and most importantly rock music. We follow the lives of a group of eight bohemians living in New York City as they celebrate love and life over the course of a year. They encounter new friends, old enemies, and yes, even death, and yet the film never preaches is message of "No day but today."

One of this film's greatest strengths is its cast. With six of the original eight principle actors from the Broadway production, there is a sense of family that is integral to the believability of the drug- and disease-filled story. Of those six, Anthony Rapp as film-maker Mark and Jesse L. Martin as teacher Collins fare the best. Rapp instills Mark with an over-the-top energy that embues his character with a genuinely likable quality, while Martin is so charmingly joyful one can't help but adore the character.

Both newbies give extraordinarily strong performances, particularly Rosario Dawson as the drug-addicted, AIDS-inflicted stripper Mimi. For a character that is often played frustratingly large, Dawson brings to Mimi a sweet vulnerability that serves both story and character. It is unfortunate that the actor who shares the most scenes with Dawson, Adam Pascal, appears so uncomfortable with the medium that Roger, "the bittersweet, evocative" songwriter, is both wooden and unrelatable. It's a shame, really, as the Mimi/Roger relationship is at the center of the story. Tracie Thoms, the other newcomer, is easily the best singer in the cast.

The true heart of the film, however, lies in the character of Angel, a lovable drag queen who is also inflicted with AIDS. As played by Wilson Jermaine Heredia, the character is immediately likably familiar. While Heredia plays the character just a tad too flamboyant and stereotypical, that is what Larson wrote for the character. Angel is the reason this story works. He is at once recognizable as a real person, and while he is not actually based on any one person, audiences can see a bit of him in everyone.

The cinematography is absolutely stunning. It compliments both the somber and lively musical numbers without making the film feel glossy. "Tango: Maureen" in particular is a fantastic scene, ironically enough being the only scene to take place in a fantasy. The dance itself is electric and powerful, and a perfect introduction to the flighty character Maureen, played by Tony-winner Idina Menzel. Also rousing is "La Vie Boheme," the most celebratory song in the film. There is more energy present in this one scene than appeared in the entire runtime of last year's Phantom of the Opera.

As for the Extras, the DVD is both sparse and rewarding all at once. The commentary with Columbus, Rapp, and Pascal, the sole feature on the first disk, offers little insight into the making of the film, but is interesting enough to warrent a listen. Weirdly enough, though, the language on the commentary is censored with bleeps, something I have never seen before. Disk two is fairly sparse as well, but it contains a 2 hour-long documentary that follows Rent from Jonathan Larson's childhhod straight through to the film. This is one of the best making-of documentaries ever offered as a DVD extra, and it was clearly made with love and respect for the man that brought Rent into being. I found myself weeping when Larson's death was finally mentioned, over an hour into the doc. One would have to have a heart made out of stone not to be moved by Larson's story. Also noteworthy on the second disk are several deleted scenes and musical numbers. The dialgue sequences were clearly deleted for a reason, as they neither advance nor improve the story, but the two songs, "Halloween" and "Goodbye, Love" add much depth and emotion to the final act of the film. These songs are a wonderful addition to the DVD, but Columbus was right in cutting them, much to the disappointment of "RentHeads" everywhere.
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