Rent (2005)

Number Rolled: 42

Movie Name/Year: Rent (2005)

Genre: Romance

Length: 134 minutes

Rating: PG-13

Director: Chris Columbus

Writer: Stephen Chbosky, Jonathan Larson

Actors: Anthony Rapp, Adam Pascal, Rosario Dawson, Jesse L. Martin, Wilson Jermaine Heredia, Idina Menzel, Tracie Thoms, Taye Diggs

Adapted from Broadway, Rent is about a group of bohemian friends living in New York. They deal with drugs, AIDS, love and loss through a creative and original music score.

Obviously “Rent” is not the newest thing on the block. It existed on stage for a long time before the movie came out, and the movie itself came out nearly a decade ago. Still, this is the first time I’ve seen any adaptation of it. Considering I’ve lived in New York for all my life, I should probably be held in stockades for that crime.

I’ve always heard amazing things; mostly about the play. Now I understand why. To be honest, I don’t really feel like the script translated well into the big screen. I can see how it would be amazing on stage, but the director took a lot of liberties with the camera angles and general film quality that I just can’t imagine what his interpretation was supposed to look like. The actors were phenomenal and the music will stick with me for longer than I can probably imagine, but that was only able to take it so far. “Rent” as a film doesn’t really work. Maybe Chris Columbus wasn’t the right director for the job, or maybe it just wasn’t a good choice to change over entertainment genres.

If there’s ever a chance for me to see a revival of the play, however, I’m all over it.

Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – 46%

Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – 83%

Netflix’s Prediction for Me – 4.9/5

Trust-the-Dice Score – 3/5

Movie Trailer: