The problem of any play that has been adapted to the big screen is one of scale. Even the best plays look very minimalist when compared to multi-million dollar movies. So the problem becomes how one expands on the play while still remaining faithful to the original material. ’Rent,’ the musical based on the Broadway play by Jonathan Larson, manages to do both fairly well, in what is an enjoyable film experience.
’Rent’ is an adaptation of Puccini’s ’La Boheme’ and focuses on the life of two roommates, struggling filmmaker Mark (Anthony Rapp) and Roger, a songwriter (Adam Pascal). They are joined by exotic dancer Mimi (Rosario Dawson), lesbian girlfriends Maureen and Joanne (Idina Menzel and Tracie Thoms) and another gay couple Angel and Tom Collins (Wilson Jermaine Heredia and Jesse L. Martin). Together, they live through a year of dealing with poverty, drug addiction, AIDS and love. They also have to deal with Benny, played by Taye Diggs, their ex-friend who looks to tear down their neighborhood of lofts and studio apartments to build upscale housing.
By bringing back most of the original Broadway cast, director Chris Columbus ensures that the film stays faithful to the vision set forward by the musical. The film itself, however, is not about these events necessarily: it is more of a character study of its unique protagonists. None of these characters are any further along in life than they were a year ago, but that they understand more about themselves and can move forward, is what is important.
Rosario Dawson and Wilson Heredia make their characters especially believable and likeable, despite some of their flaws. Idina Menzel, fresh off performing in the Broadway version of ’Wicked,’ is also very funny as performance artist Maureen, whose need for the spotlight does not stop after she leaves the stage. All eight actors make their characters quirky and interesting in their own ways, and their camaraderie through years of performances on stage is obvious in the chemistry they have on-screen.
But Columbus also improvises greatly on many scenes. One of the biggest changes that many fans of the musical will notice is the addition of spoken dialogue where actors had previously sung. He also eliminates a few songs from the original in order to move the narrative along, but even so the film’s running time of 135 minutes more than adequately covers the story.
What has been dramatically improved from the play is the musical numbers and how they are presented. What in the play was a small song without much choreography has been transformed into scenes of amazing vision and spectacle, such as the ’Tango: Maureen’ number. It is quite a treat to see ’Rent’ as it could be, with big-budget set designs.
There are some problems with the film. Certain spots which, in the play, seemed spontaneous and light now feel labored and heavily-choreographed, such as in ’Over the Moon’ during Maureen’s protest. And there is the inevitable moment or two that, while they play well on Broadway, will make seasoned filmgoers wince.
It is hard to imagine a film adaptation of ’Rent’ which could be more in line with the tone and feel the essence of the show better than this film does. While it will draw inevitable comparisons to recent film musicals like ’Chicago,’ the film is a great treat for anyone familiar with the source material and will definitely create a large following among newcomers.
’Rent’ succeeds enormously in bringing life to a play based on minimalism and introducing a new group of fans to a terrific piece of art.
