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Rent (film)

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Rent
Theatrical release poster
Directed byChris Columbus
Screenplay byStephen Chbosky
Produced byChris Columbus
Robert De Niro
Jane Rosenthal
Mark Radcliffe
Michael Barnathan
StarringAnthony Rapp
Adam Pascal
Rosario Dawson
Jesse L. Martin
Wilson Jermaine Heredia
Idina Menzel
Tracie Thoms
Taye Diggs
CinematographyStephen Goldblatt
Edited byRichard Pearson
Music byJonathan Larson
Rob Cavallo
Doug McKean
Jamie Muhoberac
Tim Pierce
Production
companies
Distributed byColumbia Pictures
Release date
  • November 23, 2005 (2005-11-23)
Running time
135 minutes
CountryTemplate:Film US
LanguageEnglish
Budget$40 million
Box office$31,670,620

Rent is a 2005 American musical drama film directed by Chris Columbus. It is an adaptation of the Broadway musical of the same name, in turn based on Giacomo Puccini's opera La bohème. The film depicts the lives of several Bohemians and their struggles with sexuality, cross-dressing, drugs, life under the shadow of AIDS, and paying their rent. It takes place in the East Village of New York City from 1989 to 1990. The film features six of the original Broadway cast members reprising their roles.

Plot

The film begins with the cast lined up on a stage singing "Seasons of Love", a song expressing a year in the life of the bohemians. On Christmas Eve 1989, apartment tenants Mark (Anthony Rapp) and Roger (Adam Pascal) express their anger at being asked to pay rent that was waived by their friend. At the same time, Tom Collins (Jesse L. Martin), a former roommate of Mark's, arrives in town and is attacked in an alley ("Rent"). Benjamin "Benny" Coffin III (Taye Diggs), the landlord and former roommate of Mark, Roger, and Collins, plans to evict the homeless living in the lot next to Mark and Roger's building and build a cyber studio in its place. He offers Mark and Roger free rent if they convince Maureen (Idina Menzel) (Mark's ex-girlfriend) to stop her protest against Benny's plans ("You'll See"). A street drummer (and drag queen), Angel (Wilson Jermaine Heredia), finds Collins and gets him cleaned up. Angel mentions that he will be attending a Life Support meeting, telling Collins he has AIDS, to which Collins replies, "Me too."

Mark searches for Collins while Roger sings of his desire to write one final song before dying of HIV ("One Song Glory"). Flashbacks show that Roger was a drug addict and his girlfriend killed herself after learning that she had HIV. A woman who lives downstairs, Mimi (Rosario Dawson), enters and flirts with Roger, asking for a match to light her candle ("Light My Candle"). Mimi is a heroin addict and exotic dancer. She drops her stash of drugs and Roger tries to hide them, but she distracts him and leaves with her stash. The next day, Collins appears at the loft with a bottle of vodka. He has a job at New York University, and Mark guesses that this is how he could afford the vodka. Collins contradicts him, and introduces Angel, who enters the loft wearing a bobbed wig, high-heeled boots, and a Santa dress. She hands Mark and Roger money, and explains that she was paid by a woman, to push a neighbor's dog off of the twenty-third floor of a building ("Today 4 U"). Maureen calls Mark, asking him to fix her sound equipment. Angel and Collins invite both men to the Life Support meeting. Roger declines but Mark promises to attend. Mark goes to the performance space, finding Maureen's girlfriend, Joanne (Tracie Thoms). Joanne and Mark bond as he works and they discuss Maureen's cheating habits ("Tango: Maureen").

Mark enters the Life Support meeting late. He is obviously uncomfortable surrounded by so many AIDS patients, but relaxes and asks if he can film the meeting. The group sings of their desire to live every day to the fullest ("Life Support"). That night, Mimi is performing at the Cat Scratch club where she works ("Out Tonight"). Later, she sneaks into Mark and Roger's apartment while Roger sits playing his guitar. Roger rebukes her for using heroin and intruding on him, throwing her out ("Another Day"). At another Life Support meeting, those present question how their lives will continue now that they have AIDS ("Will I?"). Roger joins the group, much to Angel's, Collins' and Mark's joy. Walking back to their apartments, they find a homeless woman being abused by a police officer and aid her (on film), only for her to reprimand Mark for making a name for himself using her life. On a subway train, they talk about moving to Santa Fe and opening a restaurant ("Santa Fe"). Mark and Roger go to help Joanne. Collins and Angel express their love for each other and Angel buys Collins a new coat ("I'll Cover You").

Maureen's protest happens later that night ("Over the Moon"). Benny has put the police on standby, and a riot ensues. Later, everyone meets at the Life Cafe. Mark reveals he sold footage of the riot to the news and Buzzline wants to air it. Benny tells everyone he is sorry and that his wife was not there due to a death in the family. It turns out to be his dog – the dog that Angel offed earlier. Benny tells the group that they need to grow up and be responsible, asking whether they really want to continue living as they are. This leads to a riot, with the characters shouting out what inspires them, starting with Mark saying a eulogy for 'dead' Bohemia. Maureen and Joanne disgust Benny and the other men ("La Vie Bohème"). Roger's beeper goes off, signaling his next AZT dose and showing Mimi that he has HIV. Mimi tells him that she, too, has HIV. Roger and Mimi express their interest in each other outside the cafe ("I Should Tell You"). They re-enter the cafe celebrating their new relationship ("La Vie Bohème B").

A montage of Mark's footage plays, showing events that have taken place over time ("Seasons of Love B"). On New Year's Day the group finds that Benny has seized their possessions. To get some money, Mark takes a job at Buzzline. Joanne and Maureen accompany him, and Joanne gets upset when she sees Maureen flirting with a receptionist. After an argument, Maureen proposes to Joanne. At a fancy club where Joanne's parents are hosting an engagement party for them, Joanne gets angry when Maureen flirts with another woman. Maureen wants Joanne to understand that she's only having fun. However Joanne wants Maureen to follow the rules of relationships that Joanne lives by and stop mocking her for her Type-A personality. The two end their relationship ("Take Me or Leave Me"). Benny returns everyone's things and offers to let Mark and Roger live in the apartment for free. Seeing it as a publicity stunt, Mark refuses, while Roger is bothered by the fact that Mimi was the one who convinced Benny. Mimi and Benny had previously been in a relationship, and despite her protests that it ended years ago, Roger is distrustful. Mimi and Roger struggle with Mimi's withdrawal ("Without You"). Members of Life Support die, and Collins takes Angel to the hospital. Roger finds Mimi with her drug dealer, and they break up. Angel dies in Collins' arms. During Angel's funeral, Mimi, Mark and Maureen reflect on moments they shared with Angel, and Collins sings the song that he and Angel sang together ("I'll Cover You (Reprise)"). After the funeral, Roger and Mimi argue about their relationship, as do Joanne and Maureen. Roger reveals that he sold his guitar, bought a car, and is leaving for Santa Fe ("Goodbye Love").

In Santa Fe, Roger realizes he still loves Mimi and decides to return. Mark decides to finish his film and quits his job at Buzzline ("What You Own"). When Roger arrives he learns that Mimi quit rehab and is missing. On Christmas Eve 1990, one year after everyone met, Collins returns to the apartment. Collins gives them some money and reveals that he rewired an ATM to dispense cash whenever someone inputs 'A-N-G-E-L'. Joanne and Maureen find Mimi and bring her to the apartment. She has been living on the streets and is dying. Mimi and Roger reconcile, and Mimi finally tells Roger that she loves him ("Finale A"). As she lies dying, Roger sings the song he has written over the past year. As he ends the final verse, Mimi appears to die ("Your Eyes"). Mimi regains consciousness, explaining that she saw Angel, who told her "turn around, girlfriend, and listen to that boy's song." The six friends, their faith in life restored, perform the final song ("Finale B") with Angel's voice heard as well. As Mark's documentary is shown for the first time, the friends all reaffirm that there is "no day but today".

Cast

All but two principal members of the original Broadway cast reprised their roles on film. Director Columbus got the idea to give the original cast first dibs on the roles when he talked to Anthony Rapp, Adam Pascal, and Idina Menzel about the musical and felt that they all still looked the same as when they premiered the show in 1996. Only Daphne Rubin-Vega and Fredi Walker, the original Mimi and Joanne, were not cast in the film. Rubin-Vega was seven months pregnant at the time of filming and was not able to reprise her role as Mimi. Fredi Walker was offered the role, but said that she felt too old for it; however, she insisted that a woman of African-American descent should play the part of Joanne.

Supporting characters

Production

Rent was filmed in Super 35 mm film format. Many exterior shots were filmed in New York City, specifically the East Village; the interior and remaining exterior shots were filmed in San Francisco. Some additional exterior scenes where filmed in San Diego, the famed Filoli House in Woodside, California (San Mateo County, California), Oakland, and Santa Fe, New Mexico.[1]

Until 2001, Spike Lee was to direct the film for Miramax. However, budgetary constraints and Lee's insistence on engaging celebrities like Justin Timberlake and Brittany Murphy stalled the project for a time.

In October 2004, Revolution Studios recovered the project, with Chris Columbus as the director and Columbia Pictures as the distributor. Columbus, himself an NYU student and graduate at the turn of the 1980s, and in the location where the musical and film are set, felt a connection with the characters and their experiences. He can actually be seen in the beginning as an irritated driver who finds his car windshield being washed.

The first trailer for the film featuring the song "Seasons of Love" surfaced on various Rent fan sites in early June 2005. The trailer was said to be shown before the films Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith and Crash in select cities beginning June 3, 2005. MovieMusicals.net reported that the trailer would officially be released June 7, 2005, exclusively on America Online; the movie's official blog announced it would also air during the June 7 episode of Access Hollywood.

A second trailer was released on August 25, 2005, which featured some dialog from the film as well as music from the second part of the finale ("Finale B"). A third trailer aired during the September 2005 season premiere of Nip/Tuck, which contained new footage set again to "Seasons of Love."

The film's limited release date in New York City, Los Angeles, and Toronto on November 11, 2005 was canceled, and the official premiere was at New York's Ziegfeld Theatre.

Rating

In the US, the film has officially been rated PG-13 by the MPAA for "mature thematic material involving drugs and sexuality, and for some strong language". The rating was actually taken into consideration with creative decisions during script writing and filming. Even with changes (such as removing pervasive profanity), director Chris Columbus still expresses amazement that the film received a "PG-13" due to risqué scenes and content. In Canada, it is rated PG. In the UK, the film was rated 12A by the BBFC.

In Ireland, the film is rated 15A by the Irish Film Classification Office on account of the scenes of hard drug use, a mugging scene, and some sexual references [2] In Australia, the film is rated M.

Critical reception

Rent earned mixed reviews, as indicated by its "rotten" 47% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The consensus of the reviewers featured on Rotten Tomatoes is "Fans of the stage musical may forgive its flaws, but weak direction, inescapable staginess and an irritating faux-boho pretension prevent the film from truly connecting on screen."[3]

It was the third-highest grossing opening weekend for a Broadway musical adaptation, surpassed by the 2007 version of the film Hairspray and The Phantom of the Opera.

The film was nominated for a number of awards, including a GLAAD Media Award for Best Picture Musical/Comedy. Rosario Dawson was also nominated for, and won, a Satellite Award for Most Outstanding Actress, and Christopher Columbus for Most Outstanding Director. Additionally, Rosario Dawson was nominated for Best Actress by the NAACP Image Awards.

Alternate ending

In addition to four deleted scenes, the DVD release includes an alternate ending, showing all the main characters except Angel standing in the positions where they were during the "Seasons of Love" opening, all standing in a line of spotlights, with Angel's spot empty. Later in the scene, he enters from the side and walks down the line to take his place, stopping as he passes Collins to take his hand for a moment. Although this tableau is used in the finale of the musical, it was dropped from the film for fear that audiences may have wondered why Angel had returned or why the characters were lined up on stage again. In the commentary, Chris Columbus adds that he "didn't want audiences to think that everything was okay and Angel was alive again."

Differences between the stage and film versions

  • As in the original musical, the story of the film spans the course of one year. The musical only stated that the action begins and ends on a December 24 and was meant to be the present; however, the film establishes the setting as 1989 to 1990. This creates some lyrical inconsistencies: for example, "Today 4 U" contains a reference to the film Thelma and Louise, which was not released until 1991, and the song "Over the Moon" makes apparent references to the Oklahoma City bombing[4] which did not occur until 1995. Columbus has said that these specific dates were used because he intended for the action of the film to be taking place prior to the 1990s gentrification of Manhattan's East Village, the neighborhood in which the movie is set. Some elements of the story are shifted in time: in the musical, for example, Benny's padlock on the apartment is discovered on New Year's Eve; in the film it's found on New Year's Day.
  • Many of the Broadway version's original songs were cut in order to add dialogue to the film and make the plot flow more naturally; on Broadway, it is a rock opera with very little spoken dialogue. Some songs not included in the film are “You Okay Honey?,” “Christmas Bells,” “Happy New Year A & B,” “Contact,” “We’re Okay,” along with “Tune Ups #1–3” and numerous answering machine messages. Some sections of the previous songs were transformed into spoken dialogue for entertainment purposes (as with "La Vie Boheme"). A solo by Mark, "Halloween," was filmed but cut because it did not "fit in with the pacing" of the film. "Goodbye Love" was filmed in its entirety, but the second half was cut from the film because Columbus considered it somewhat of an emotional overload, as he states on the DVD's commentary track. Both scenes are on the second disc of the DVD set as special features.
  • Maureen appears much earlier in the film than in the musical.
  • The film includes a newly created scene of an engagement party for Maureen and Joanne, hosted by Joanne's parents, that culminates in the song "Take Me or Leave Me" and the breakup of Maureen and Joanne's relationship. On stage, the fateful argument between Maureen and Joanne takes place as the two of them rehearse for another protest. Both Joanne's and Maureen's parents appear in the party scene. In the musical, Joanne's parents are heard and seen in a spotlight (Voicemail #2) and Maureen's parents are never introduced.
  • The film also leaves ambiguous the death of Roger's girlfriend April, who dies before Rent begins. In the film, she is seen reading a doctor's report that she is HIV positive; it is stated that she has died, but nothing more is said. In the stage version, Mark explicitly states that April committed suicide by slitting her wrists in the bathroom, and Roger found out about his HIV in the suicide note. Chris Columbus states in the DVD commentary that a scene featuring April lying in the bathtub with her wrists slit was filmed, but cut because he thought it would be "too much."

Home media

Rent was released on DVD in the United States (Region 1) on February 21, 2006, in 2-disc fullscreen and 2.40:1 anamorphic widescreen formats. DVD extras include an audio commentary with director Chris Columbus, Anthony Rapp and Adam Pascal, as well as a new feature-length documentary on the making of the film, deleted scenes, and musical performances, a biography of Jonathan Larson, and PSAs. Automat Pictures produced the documentary content.

Rent was released on DVD in the United Kingdom (Region 2) on August 14, 2006, in dual-layer 2.40:1 anamorphic widescreen format (rated 12 by the BBFC). The documentary is not on this version; instead, there are trailers for other Sony Pictures DVDs (such as MirrorMask and The Producers).

Rent was released on Blu-ray on December 11, 2007.

Soundtrack

Main article: Rent (film soundtrack)

The soundtrack was released September 23, 2005 in single- (17 tracks) and 2-disc (28 tracks) editions. The single-disc edition is a Selections Soundtrack.

References

  1. ^ RENT
  2. ^ IFCO's rating for Rent
  3. ^ http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/rent/
  4. ^ the song's lyrics: "It's like I'm being tied to the hood / Of a yellow rental truck / Being packed in / With fertilizer and fuel oil," circumstances similar to the Oklahoma City bombing
Wikiquote has quotations related to Rent (film).

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