Rent

RATING:

Starring: Rosario Dawson, Taye Diggs, Wilson Jermaine Heredia, Jesse L. Martin, Idina Menzel, Adam Pascal, Anthony Rapp, Tracie Thoms. Written by: Chris Columbus, Stephen Chbosky. Directed by: Chris Columbus.

Rated PG-13 for mature thematic material involving drugs and sexuality, and for some strong language.

Let it be stated and understood for the record that yours truly was and is a big old Renthead. “Rent”, Jonathan Larson’s seminal musical based on Puccini’s classic opera “La Boheme” opened on Broadway in 1996. I saw it 6 times - 4 times with the original cast and 2 more times with their subsequent replacements. I bought the Original Broadway Cast 2-disc set twice. (A horrid subletter stole the first set.) I own the sheet music and use it in performance from time to time. I was given a lovely coffee table book about the show for Christmas one year. I was and am more than a little obsessed with this particular piece of American musical history. It has brought me much joy over the years and the idea of being presented in any unworthy fashion is anathema bordering on heresy. When I heard that Chris Columbus (Home Alone, Harry Potter) would be bringing the beloved musical to the big screen I have to admit I was more than just skeptical, I was kind of mad. How would the brains behind “Bicentennial Man” (shudder) adequately tell the story of a group of young bohemians struggling to survive in the East Village in the face of addiction, disease and poverty? How would the artist’s struggle and the temptation to deny friends, lovers and self be handled by the man who unleashed “Nine Months” on an unsuspecting and undeserving (of punishment) movie-going public? The deal was done however, so I held my breath and made a wish that the sardonic wit exhibited in the screenplays of “The Goonies” and “Gremlins” would resurface. Columbus would need to unearth his long buried edge in order for this to work. I figured I’d leave the visual storytelling to the Universe and just hope for the best.

I had nothing to worry about. With “Rent” he hits it out of the park. It turns out Columbus was a bit of a Renthead too. He saw the original cast on Broadway as well and enjoyed it so much he went back again 5 days later. He waited 9 years for other studios (Miramax) and directors (Spike Lee) to step aside so that he could get his hands on it and he likens himself to “a racehorse at the gate” in his urge to get the movie done.

Rent tells the stories of a group of artists and musicians all inextricably linked in friendship, love, pain and death. Their story is told out over the course of a year (‘Seasons of Love’) beginning on Christmas Eve 1989. Columbus wisely predates the story a few years. A number of the lead characters are HIV positive and in 1989 before the era of protease inhibitors and drug ‘cocktail’ therapies, the sense of the immediacy of AIDS as a certain death sentence was more prevalent. There is a lyric about AZT that almost sounds nostalgic. Setting the piece earlier also helps the audience hearken back to Gotham in the pre-Giuliani era and to a time before the Mall of Americanization of Times Square. New York in 1989 was darker, dirtier and felt much less safe. The stakes are indeed risen.

Columbus fell in love with the chemistry and the energy of the original cast. So much so that he hired most of them to recreate their roles for the film. Most of that cast are now in their mid-30s and probably too old to still be playing these parts. But their shared experience lends the film an effervescent cohesion. They all went through Larson’s untimely death the night before the first preview together. They witnessed their work become a bit of a zeitgeist and together they saw their careers effectively launched. The energy of that combination of people in that time and space together is palpable. 8 years after they played these roles on Broadway, Columbus has found a way to harness that energy again. We are no longer simply dealing with the legacy of a long-running show on Broadway. On film now, it is forever.

And the audience is generously awarded for the wait. Columbus displays a heretofore unseen visual style. The tone and look of the film stock reads gritty which matches the lean sparseness of how the characters live. The cinematography is reminiscent of a melodically infused “Mean Streets”. It’s like Columbus has been holding out on his audiences all this time. He floats flame down damp streets of fire in the title number and enervates ‘Tango: Maureen’ into a Warhol-inspired daymare of exquisite ballroom dancers set against a hallucination of longing. In every frame it’s obvious how much Columbus loves this music and these characters.

It’s also clear that this cast is happy to be back. This is the best performance of Roger that Adam Pascal has ever given (of the 5 times I’ve seen him do this now). Taye Diggs as Benny sounds as though he’s been taking voice lessons. His vocals are much more rounded and fluid and don’t carry the same nasality. Rosario Dawson is one of the newcomers. Her Mimi is sweet and wounded and so very needy. A far cry from her prostitute soldier from hell in “Sin City”. She does a pretty admirable job throughout. She sings sweetly and she dances well. However I wished her vocals had more of a rockier edge on ‘Out Tonight’. At that moment I really missed Daphne Rubin-Vega, but was still glad that famed rock producer Rob Cavallo (Green Day’s “American Idiot”) took over the reins for the soundtrack. Idina Menzel (Tony award winner for “Wicked”) plays self absorbed performance artist Maureen and retains all her fiery wackiness. She dances ‘Tango:Maureen’ as if she’s recovering from a rib injury (which she was). It just made the moment even funnier to me. Wilson Jermaine Heredia and Jesse L. Martin (Law & Order, Ally McBeal) are still as winning as ever as drag queen drummer Angel and philosopher activist Tom Collins. Their numbers ‘Santa Fe’ and ‘I’ll Cover You’ mirror and reveal the warmest heart and soul of the group.

“Rent” endures and prospers as a film. The themes are timeless. The music is fantastic. Hearts are broken and lives are measured in love. I can’t wait for the DVD.