Customer Reviews
Absolutely Amazing A MUST SEE - By: Sam, 29 Nov 2008 
I had not heard of Rent before being introduced to it by a friend, she absolutely loved it & being a MASSIVE fan of musical theatre, I felt compelled to give it a go. I was hooked as soon as they began to sing, I hadn't heard of any of the cast except from Idina & having seen her performin wicked I was interested to see her play a different character. The whole cast is phenominal, especially Tracie Thoms as Joanne, & I thout Rosario Dawson played Mimi exceptionally well
The songs are amazong, the acting is convincing & the characters are unforgettable. I have watched the movie countless times since getting the DVD & I am praying that they will bring a production to the west end because it would be amazing!!!!
This DVD is a MUST SEE My favourite film of all time
Emotionally Fantastic - By: Lost n charmed, 27 Sep 2008 Rent is a brilliant musical setin New York, following a story of friendship, love & music. The cast, most of whom starredin the original broadway production, are fabulous, & make the movie extremely worth while watching. The songs are fantastic, ranging from the lively 'La Vie Boheme' to the saddening 'Without You'. The film made me Laugh & Cry, & overall it is Fantastic. The whole film becomes EVEN BETTER when Maureen (played by Idina Menzel, who's got a brilliant album, I Stand) appears. She brings light to the film with a slight comedy, but overall just her brilliant acting skills.
This film is a MUST SEE. Once I saw it, i fellin love with it, its THAT GOOD! :D
Superb big-screen re-telling of an amazing show - By: Captain EO, 17 Jul 2008 First up, Rent (the movie) isn't going to appeal to everyone. Not so much due to it's subject matters, but more so to do with the fact that it's a movie that includes it's cast belting out around songs. Whilst the likes of Moulin Rouge & Chicago appealed to a different audience than maybe your standard cinema-goer, Rent won't necessarily appeal to fans of these movies either because it's an edgy tale of modern-day struggles featuring a soundtrack that stretches from Rock to Gospel. The Sound of Music, this ain't !!!
I saw the show on Broadway a couple of years after it first opened & whilst the story mainly passed me by, the music moved me more than anything had for years. I'd grown to love the soundtrack for the majority of ten years so when the movie was released I was eager to see it but without really being a "fan", I have to say the movie blew me away.
I wasn't sure if Rent as a movie would work but Chris Columbus did an amazing jobin making the whole thing work. It was a superbly effective move to bringin the majority of the orignal cast of the show & I hope that creator Jonathan Larson would be proud of how the movie showcases the heart of the original story whilst breathing new life into the songs without being dis-respectful to the "originals".
I have to admit, if I picked up a copy of the Rent DVD without knowing anything about it & read the summary on the back-cover, I'd put it straight back down as neither the subject matter or the genre of film usually appeals to me, it's therefore refreshing to witness something different quite as superbly written & directed featuring around a dozen numbers of truly brilliant quality, each one heightening the emotion as the story unfolds.
As a movie, it's superb, but a word of warning, epsecially if you're a fan. The UK DVD offers littlein terms of extra's but the 2 disc Region 1 Edition features some superb extra's, the main thing being the awesome feature-length documentary covering the tragic life & loss of Rent creator Jonathan Larson. I'm a big fan of movie documentaries & this documentary is quite simply as good as it gets.
To summarise, Rent may not appeal to all but if you're open minded or simply enjoy great music and/or a truly moving movie experience - pick up a copy of Rent.
You either love it or don't understand it - By: Emily Harrington, 05 Feb 2008 RENT is a masterpiece of song, dance, & acting. I've now seen it at least eight times & have yet to find any major flaw. All of the negative reviews that I have seen for it are from people who
a) Simply didn't understand it (I maintain that a lot of people loved the stage version because of the big noise & smoke but still didn't understand it, so when the noise & smoke had to go when it was transferred to film, they didn't enjoy it)
b) Have memorized the music (as I have) & thought that the spoken lines were badly-acted (They're not. If you know exactly, word-for-word, what's going to be said next, it will always sound wooden)
c) Love the stage version & are upset at all of the changes that have been made (A few songs have been taken out or cut shorter or made longer, although there are no new songsin the video, the locations of some scenes have been changed, & all of the other minor changes that always occur when translating a stage production to video)
d) Won't let themselves enjoy it because of the subject matter (Either they are homophobic or do not want to listen to characters addicted to heroin or cross-dressers)
e) Simply don't like musical film & only watched it because they had liked the musical
In any case, if you are open-minded & enjoy musical film, I can guarantee you will love RENT. If you watch it, though, there are some things that are important that aren't for most movies:
a) You have to pay attention at all times, even during the songs. If you miss even five minutes, you'll understand it less. It's hard to understand (I didn't understand it enough to enjoy it until the second time I saw it & didn't understand it completely until the fourth time), so make sure you're paying attention!
b) You have to be open to issues of homosexuality, HIV, heroin addiction, poverty, & the Bohemian lifestyle. Try not to be too shocked & focus on the message of the movie.
c) You have to open yourself up to the heart of the movie. There's a lot of big feelingsin it & you have to let them hit you.
d) Relax & enjoy it! It's a musical. People sing almost nonstop the whole time. There are barely two scenesin a row without a song.
Those who say it's dated also don't understand it. Maybe East Village has changed. But there's still AIDS, homosexuality, cross-dressing, drug addiction, poverty, & homelessnessin today's world. And, most importantly, there's still love. It's a movie about lovein the end of the day - not a love story, but a movie about love.
If there were more stars, I'd give them to RENT, because five out of five doesn't seem like even close to enough.
Faultless (Watch me contradict myself... ) - By: Gem, 24 Jan 2008 As a film geek... or film buff... either way... I can't watch any film without studying it from every angle. I'm also a writer & Independent film-maker, so I pick at any film I watch so much it even irritates me sometimes. Also, to me, musicals should be magical, whatever their themes or styles. Musicals are magic. I'm just pointing this out because when I say this movie is faultless, you realise my standards.
I'm one of the unlucky majority who hasn't seen the live original version, so you'll have to read another review for a true opinion on that. I do know that there have been very few complaints, which I'm pleased about.
So, as far as this movie goes, it is unique, (a word thrown around a lot, I know, often without merit). But through its varying, though seamless, powerful music styles, fabulous, controversial story-telling, comedic to heart-stopping themes, talent that is just beautiful to watch & unusual but not gimmicky directing, (for example the use of Mark's camera as the POV) I stand by my use of the word unique... which should mean something remarkable: more than it usually does, because of its overuse. That was an incredibly long sentence/description - apologies. ;-)
Now this is the bit where I contradict myself. The DVD could have offered us more. Given that Jonathan Larson was such a genius to create the original musical to begin with & his fascinating & of course, tragic life-story, it would have added an extra layer to learn more about him on the DVD, let alone the actors, (which has been pointed out included 6 of the original players). Again, we have to turn to Region 1 for Special Editions/2-Disc releases. Just a personal irritation was the exclusion of 'Goodbye Love', one of my favourite songs, (I'm a sucker for the sad bits). Although it is on the deleted scenes section & I understand why it was cut, (given Mark & Roger had never interacted through songin that way, which led to Mimi's song). So, I guess, all is almost forgiven.
So few movies dare to go where Rent did & does. It is a shame that because it is a musical & practically a hidden classic, it will never claim its rightful placein so many movie fans' DVD collections. If you are turned off it because the actors sing & don't just talk? As with any musical, give it a chance, let yourself be taken in, forget what genre it may or may not 'belong' to & realise its strengths, even beyond the music. This is a drama worthy of your time, unless you absolutely, totally despise musicals.
As for the actors, you may be surprised at how many you do actually know, even if you recognise the faces, but the names mean nothing to you. Taye Diggs certainly has a following, as does Rosario Dawson. Ever seen Ally McBeal? Well, if the answer's yes, then that's 2 out of 8 you'll know, (Taye Diggs & Jesse L. Martin).
In summation for this hugely long review, (apologies again) the DVD itself is lacking, no doubt. Does that knock it down to 4 stars? Clearly not, as the movie itself is as I first described... faultless.
