Rent

This was so beautifully written and the story so meaningful and timely. This story touches my heart each and every time I watch it. The songs are heartfelt, intelligent and on point with not only what was happening in the artistic community in midst of the AIDS epidemic in the late 80's, but the struggles that people continue to go through today. I cannot say enough good things about this musical. Thank you Jonathan Larson for leaving us with such a wonderfully inspiring, timeless, true work of art.

That is because they are bad. Nothing worth remembering. UNless you are in to how many minutes in a year which I can not remember even though they said it 50 or more times. See? nothing worth remembering. Singing was good but the songs were.......ugh. And I wonder if anyone put 2 and 2 together that the Bohemian live they were celebrating in this show was responsible for everyone dying from AIDS, the point of the movie. Easier to blame it on Reagan for not dropping funding from all other diseases to go after HIV.

One of my favorite movies. This is proof positive for me that things can happen around you and you ca have no idea what's going on; unless you are personally affected. I had no clue what the HIV/AIDS struggle was in it's original discovery. I've always believed that with a solid friend base life can be more pleasant. Hold dear to the ones you love and who love you.

I love this movie, adapting from the Broadway musical of late Jonathan Larson. The songs were memorable, the cast was great, and the dramatic scenes between two key characters were very inspirational.It was one of the most important films to date, both strong message about survival and love each other.

This movie typically gets a bad rap from hardcore RENTheads (I consider myself one) because it doesn't follow the staged musical word for word and leaves out some songs/scenes. I, on the other hand, think this film adaptation is marvelously done. Because this is a film, the events are happening out in the real world, not on a stage, so of course there will be differences. The entire script cannot be sung (as in there needs to be some dialogue), and obviously they have to change around some of the words in the dialogue so every other word doesn't rhyme as each would in a song. That wouldn't be very realistic either. What really sold me the most was Chris Columbus' decision to use three quarters of the OBC in the eight principle roles, as well as Tracy Thomas (she has played the role on Broadway) and Rosario Dawson (a surprisingly beautiful singer who does an heartfelt portrayal of Mimi). There have been so many musical film adaptions in the past that I have been disappointed with (Phantom, Mama Mia, etc.) because the ... hired Hollywood stars who had weak voices and no personal connection with the roles. "Rent" is one of the only modern musical movies that defies this stereotype with a phenomenal cast of actors/singers who have abundant experience in musical theatre. Whether you are a RENThead or have never seen the staged show, you should watch this film.

I really didn't mind the play but I didn't think it was bad, nor did I think it could be made into a good movie. And I was right, it didn't make a good movie.The first thing you're really gonna notice is the lack of chemistry between the cast. It's odd because this is almost the exact same cast from the play. Rosario Dawson is the only actress and character I liked. That's because she's the most believable and most realistic out of them all. Everyone else comes off as generic characters and have nearly only one character trait.The runtime isn't that long, so why was I begging for it to end? I think it's because there were 525,600 songs within this movie. The only good one was the opening song, everything else wasn't that great. They weren't all necessarily bad songs, but they weren't done properly thanks to the poor direction of Chris Columbas. Every song feels like it's going on forever and the only good songs end suddenly. It makes no sense why they have to all be so long. In other musicals, there would be dancing and other things to keep you entertained. Here though there's just people singing and barely moving. That's fine if that's what you like, but in a movie there's supposed to be excitement and awe overtheir singing and other things going on.No character is developed, the story goes on forever, and the cast has terrible chemistry. I did like a few songs, but overall I was just begginifor them to stop singing. They're not bad actors and they can all sing really well, im so shocked that this movie didn't offer more and that this movie wasn't better. If you're a fan of the musical, you might love this movie. But I was a fan and I did not. Everyone else whose never heard of Rent and never saw the musical will probably pass out from boredom and hoping it ends soon.

amazingly beautiful music, sob fest at some points... all the bittersweetness of life and joy and pain of love,the loss of death, the overcoming, continuing on, remembering, honoring... ... universal themes for all people ::: "selling out"? what is family? will it all be ok in the end? Can't say how much I love this musical ... I did not see the play live yet... I saw the movie after it came out.... I just rewatched it last week and I think I cried more this time... ... Anything I don't like? The "death of the Akita" --- don't enjoy violence to animals even if implied and not part of reality, in fact that disturbs me quite a bit that one of the characters does this for money, but then we can't eat our morals can we? ... as well as the "la vie bohme" song... alternate lifestyle is fine... I live one. I don't need to hate people who don't understand or don't want to live that... I especially am tired of the "hating mom and dad" theme... But this is an amazing musical, moving, songs are gut wrenching, raw, beautiful... just like life... enjoy

I adore the musical. The bohemian story is so unique and the songs are great. So when I decided to watch the movie I had my expectations set low due to how breathtaking the musical is. However, a few minutes into the opening version of ‘Seasons of Love’ I was hooked, and very pleased to see a majority of the original Broadway cast. The only newcomer, Rosario Dawson, as Mimi was a welcome addition as her ‘Out Tonight’ and ‘Another Day’ were both amazing. Other highlights include Wilson Jermaine Heredia as Angel (the best performance of ‘Today 4 You that I’ve seen) and of course Jesse L. Martin as Collins’ performance of ‘I’ll Cover You (Reprise)’ which is equally showstopping and heartbreaking. If you haven’t seen the musical, then I would definitely recommend this movie to get you hooked and motivated to see the musical!

Is this supposed to be a musical?The melodies - if you can call them that - are totally unmemorable, and the lyrics are some of the worst ever written. The writers need to look at the lyrics of Stephen Sondheim, Oscar Hammerstein and Lorenz Heart. These lyrics are embarrassing and totally banal.This is second-rate cringeworthy, and frankly embarrassing.

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 job in making the whole thing work. It was a superbly effective move to bring in 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 little in 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.

I was in floods of tears before the film even began. The actors do an overture of the main song out of character right to camera. I am someone who was in my early 20's in the eighties and I can't forget. I can never get the lyrics right - is it 50065000800 minutes? anyway I defy anyone not to be moved. All those vibrant living young souls who never grew old.Singing rapturous, dancing explosive,characters? I love the relationship between the hard guy and his dancing diva gay friend - a true and deep love on screen that's never mawkish.the plot, well who cares in a way when you are soaring along with the film.Un petit La Boheme, ditto La Traviata and it is fun to spot the arias but at times it drags a bit -

anybody whos seen the musical will not doubt say that it isnt a patch on the stage shows, but not being one of them and not a big musicals fan, i have to say i had my reservations, being told it was a story about people living with H.I.V and drugs, but was plesently surprised!It deals with its heavy subject content with a dose of fun and you really get in touch with the characters and later cant help but feel for them as various things take its toll. i watched this thinking it would be a depression fest, but instead felt uplifted and strangely happy after all i'd witnessed. the songs are brilliant, the narrative is strong its just a great movie. some of the scenes that were cut should have been in the film to start with but with this dvd you've got all of them so you dont really miss out.