[Ol]f Rent

This might be a little crazy...bear with me.

It's hard anticipating anything. Anything you know and love.
Tell it to the Star Wars lover, the LOTR geeks, and Potter maniacs, of which I am two for three. The anticipation for these movies has been almost as unbearable as having nothing more to look forward to. Since Return of the King, I haven't really had a movie I was desperately dying to see. Return of the Sith came and went, but I had no fire to see it.

Then this summer, I went to NY, and saw RENT, second row, center. I finally saw the show everyone told me I had to see, and I was completely blown away. The music, the heart, the feeling, the sights of the show just made me fall in love. Soon after, to the pain of my man, I learnt the songs and couldn't stop listening to the soundtrack. I was obsessed.

And my obsession continued and grew as the movie release drew near. It had been a few years since I was so passionate about an upcoming release. Not because I knew it was going to be an amazing film [because it's not], but because RENT had wedged a special place in my heart.

So now that I've seen the film twice, I can honestly say: It might be one of my worst, favorite movies ever. I have to say that I loved it, but at the same time, it might be the most frustrating movie I have ever seen in my life. Chris Columbus directed the film, and he succeeded at bringing the heart, passion and love of the musical to film, but in so many little places, he failed miserably.

What worked?

• RENT - the opening number is a fantastic ensemble sequence, featuring all of Avenue A singing and burning their eviction notices at a tiny Benny. The sequence is chilling and a great start to the film.
  
• One Song Glory - cool flashback, but what happened to "his girlfriend April left a note, saying we've got AIDS, before slitting her wrists in the bathroom"?
• Light my Candle - simple and sexy.
  
• Today 4 U - awesome. Angel is the most fun character in the show, and his entrance is fantastic. Made me have the same reaction as when i saw it on stage "wtf?"
• Tango: Maureen - the most stagey of all the numbers. The tango is sensual and playful and worked very well. Sad to see Maureen so early on though. Took away from her real entrance.
• Life Support - it was a bit awkward at first with all the dialogue, but once the music began it all became ok.
• Out Tonight - ok. the very first half of this song was genious. Mimi at the Cat Scratch club, her desperate, sexy dance with her patrons. The lights and the glitz. All awesome.
  
• Will I? - a sad song and the beginning of the emotional core of the film. It was a great moment when all the life support people joined in the song. It dragged a bit, but Roger's entrance made it all better.
• I'll Cover You - the sweetest love story and scene was right here between Angel and Collins. Nothing that Mimi or Roger do ever comes close to this moment.
• Over the Moon - I very much disliked this number in the stage version of the show. I was already confused as to what was going on, and the number confused and turned me off. In the film, however, the protest is given depth and weight with Maureen's performance and the elements that enhance it. Hilarious.
• La vie Boheme - this was it. Flawless
• La vie Bohene B - my favorite number and sequence.
  
• Take me or Leave Me - the Maureen/Joanne faceoff is an understated showstopper that manages to impress and in some moments even outshine the spectacular vie Boheme.
• I'll Cover You (Reprise) - ok let the waterworks begin. A truly moving number that was done very simply, letting the music be the star, and nothing else.

What didn't work so well?

• Out Tonight - the second half of this number was truly a disaster. Mimi walking around the streets alone? the empty streets? no emotion, just cold distance. Mimi singing in the fire escape? cold. there was a fire lacking in the directing and creation of the scene. No fault to Rosario Dawson, but Chris Columbus should have littered the streets with New Yorkers flirting with Mimi and her having her way with them. He should also have opened up the fire escape and have a bunch of other women dancing the night away with Mimi from their own views of their fire escapes.
• Another Day - a wonderful song is marred by unexcitement and blandness. The song is fantastic and still manages to provoke emotion, yet the direction the scene takes is a little absurd. Mimi and Roger's argument from the streets to the balcony might be okay, but the cheese factor is pulled in when Mark, Angel and Collins arrive out of nowhere to play into the argument. They all just stand there as the camera goes back and forth, showing the same exact expressions as the sing. Mimi should move around, stand on a car or something to express her true pain; Roger should walk and work the balcony to express his pain; and the whole company should have witnessed the event, not just the three supporting players.
• Santa Fe - oh man. A song about the joys of leaving New York and dreaming of a different life should not take place in the cold and lifeless Subway of NY. Collins and Angel jump around poles, but the song should have been opened up to the streets of NY and Central Park, where a simple shot of the horizon would say more than any verse out of the character's mouths.
• I should tell you - Mimi and Roger walk down the alley, stop, come back, and kiss. All while snow falls on them. Exciting? not at all.
• Seasons of Love - oh wow. First of all, this song has absolutely no emotional connection at the beginning of the film and becomes irrelevant and stupid in the way it is used. There is no narrative connection with the opening, and should have been saved for the end credits. The reprise works a little better, but it's a voice over.
• Without you - the images work very well, but playing over a montage takes away the integrity of the musical. If they are to sing their deepest emotions, then why make the climax a series of images of their lives?
• What You Own - absolutely horrid. should be excised out of the film and made into dialogue. or something.
• Halloween/Goodbye, Love - the greatest moments of self reflection, internal conflict, and heartbreak are not in the film. MISTAKE.

Overall I enjoyed the movie a lot, but it had many directorial misstapes that held it back from being as great as I expected it to be.