Rent (Widescreen Two-Disc Special Edition)
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DVD details
Actor: Jesse L Martin, Rosario DawsonBrand: Sony
DVD: Region Code 99
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 5.1; English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1; French (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 5.1
Format: Dubbed, DVD, NTSC, Special Edition, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: Anamorphic Widescreen, 2.40:1
Running Time: 135 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2006-02-21
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
DVD Reviews of Rent (Widescreen Two-Disc Special Edition)
DVD Review: Thank You, Jonathan...
Summary: 4 Stars
I am a self-proclaimed lover of musical theatre. And although I own almost every major Broadway and Off-Broadway soundtrack, and have seen most of the classics at least once or twice, I somehow let Rent slip through the cracks. Not, by any means, because I never heard of it, but, rather, because I made the all too often fatal mistake of listening to the musical theatre elitists who turn their nose up at anything that wasn't written by Stephen Sondheim. Sure, I heard the story: an update of La Boehme that replaces Mimi with a stripper and the plague with AIDS. I also heard of the untimely death of the young composer, and even bought into the urban legend that he died of AIDS (which could not be further from the truth). But, somehow, I took a pass on the show, the soundtrack, and the whole sordid affair. The "rentheads" just seemed far too giddy for me to believe that they were actually worshipping something of value. Boy was I wrong.
When the movie came out, I was tempted to go see it, but I took yet another pass, for all the same reasons. But the DVD was convenient enough for me to give it a spin. And what a spin it was. As a piece of musical theatre, Rent is not without its issues - all of which have been stated very eloquently before. The plot is a little weak and the lyrics could have used a little refining. But THE MUSIC! Oh, that music! I was bowled over from the first half minute. Jonathan Larson was far from a musical genius - which is exactly why the music is so incredibly good. Combining simple, memorable melodies with incredible multi-part harmonies, the notes sing to you all by themselves. I was left wondering where this play had been all my life.
But this is not intended to be a review of the show itself. What I am here to do today is review the DVD. And I made you sit through the long introduction above because it is very relevant to what I am about to write. Like most any other operatic musical, it is very hard to translate to film without it feelng like you are watching a studio version of the play itself. The magic of the theatre is lost on film, and most musicals are very difficult to adapt without a whopping serving of cheese. Jesus Christ Superstar, Godspell, Hair, Evita, Phantom Of The Opera, and a slew of others have all suffered from the same fate. And, I'm afraid to say that Rent joins the pack of musicals that just didn't quite translate. Many an ambitious Director have tried. And the only one who has ever succeded, in my opinion, is Rob Marshall with Chicago. How? By filming it like an old style Hollywood musical with an updated modern feel, instead of trying to set the stage version to film. Chris Columbus, who directed Rent, chose to go the other route - adapting the stage show to a series of elaborate sets and unimaginable backgrounds which try to imitate reality, and might have suceeded were it not for all of the frolicking and singing going on. And that's where the conflict lies. Modern Hollywood movies show unrealistic things happening in realistic settings. Stage musicals show realistic things happening in unrealistic settings. So the only way to translate them properly is to do as Chicago did and as the old-style Hollywood musicals did; don't try to be too real. Well, Chris Columbus, with his roots in 1980's New York City, missed that entire point and tried too hard to make it all real for us. And, in so doing, he, in my opinion, failed.
But that's not the only way in which Mr. Columbus failed us. In watching the movie, I had a unique perspective because I had absolutely no previous exposure to the story. And, unfortunately, were it not for the music, I might never have felt any emotion at all because the movie never gives us any emotional attachment to any of the characters. I won't go into plot lines here, but I can tell you that nothing held together. The relationships were just never established. And then I watched the excellent Special Features disc which included all of the cut scenes. And, all of a sudden, everything came together. After watching only 4 of the deleted scenes, I was suddenly able to feel the entire movie. Mark explains his internal struggles, Mimi explains her attachment to Roger, Roger and Mark explain their attachment to one another, and Benny explains his relationship with Mimi. And, with that, you can suddenly understand and relate to the rest of the movie in an entirely different way. Then I made the mistake of turning the Director commentary on during those cut scenes, and I was all the more infuriated to listen in on Chris Columbus flip-flopping back and forth as to whether or not the scenes actually should have been cut. It was like listening to a child trying to justify himself into a position which he knew he should never have taken. This was most evident during his description of the alternate ending in which the actors return to the same stage on which they began, to sing the finale in the same setting where they sang the introduction. This was the only 'theatrical' moment of the entire movie where he actually put the actors on stage where they belong. Tying the ending to the beginning in this way might just have made everything else seem like somebody else's re-telling of their story, or as a part of Mark's film - which could have actually worked. But, instead he decided to cut it because, as he put it, it was too far the beginning and he didn't think the audience would remember it enough to tie the two together. Never underestimate us, Chris. It all left me a little angry, to tell you the truth. But I was also left feeling fortunate to have seen this movie for the first time on DVD so that I could also see these cut scenes and benefit from the composer's original vision - one which made much more sense than that of Chris Columbus.
So it may sound like I'm bashing the Director here, and, in reality, I'm probably not cutting him enough slack. Because I think his intentions were probably good. The problem, as far as I could see it, is that he knew the story too well. So it held together far better for him than for someone like me who had never seen or heard the story before. But there was also a lot that he did right. The decision to use 6 out of 8 of the original cast members, for one. The chemistry, vocal chops, and dramatic timing of Anthony Rapp, Adam Pascal, Idina Menzel, Taye Diggs, Wilson Jermaine Heredia, and Jesse L. Martin are spectacular and work perfectly together. And the seemless introductions of Rosario Dawson and Tracie Thoms are equally impressive. The music and accompanying arrangements sound modern, fresh, and well produced, and the blocking, camera work, and timing are all beyond compare. So, although he got a lot of it wrong, he does deserve due credit for getting a lot of things very, very right.
But the real star of this show is still the Special Features disc and, more appropriately stated, the composer, Jonathan Larson. The accompanying cut scenes are a necessity so I won't give the DVD too much credit for including them, but the 2-hour documentary entitled No Day But Today is a gem that could have demanded the entire price of the DVD all by itself. In it, we learn about the life of Jonathan Larson, the humble, eccentric, and, yes, very straight composer of Rent. Not that being straight is relevant to anything other than the fact that there is an eerie and unsettling feeling associated with a person, like myself, who assumed for 10 years that the composer of a play about AIDS must have been homosexual, and then one day, suddenly realizes that my otherwise open mind could have been so easily closed by prejudice and lies. A humbling experience to say the least. In any case, Jonathan Larson's story is told with such eloquence and such feeling that it is even more emotionally insightful than the movie itself. In fact, it was only after watching this documentary that I was truly hooked on the story of Rent. And it is then that you realize that Jonathan Larson's story is as much a part of the success of Rent as the story of the play itself. And maybe it is only through his death that the true story can completely unfold and be felt. This documentary reached me on many levels. It left me speechless. And, as you can tell by the length of this review, that is a rare occurence.
So, in short, I was inspired by Rent - but as much, if not more, by the story of its composer than by the story itself. They are truly one. I am grateful for having been so grossly misinformed and for not having seen Rent before, because I truly believe that the only way I would have truly enjoyed it is not as a 3-hour play, or as a 2-hour movie, but as a 4-hour movie/documentary that paints the entire picture. And it is a picture that I will not soon forget.
Summary: 5-stars for the music, 4-stars for the book, 3-stars for the lyrics, 3-stars for the movie, 6-stars for the documentary. That averages out to about 4-stars. So that's where I'll leave it. But only with these words: Buy this DVD, watch both discs in their entirety, and just let the music and the story reach you as they did me. The feeling will be with you for a long time.
Description of Rent (Widescreen Two-Disc Special Edition)
In new yorks east village a group of bohemians struggle to express themselves through their art & strive for success & acceptance while enduring the obstacles of poverty illness & the aids epidemic. Studio: Sony Pictures Home Ent Release Date: 06/27/2006 Starring: Rosario Dawson Jesse L Martin Run time: 135 minutes Rating: Pg13Rent, the show that in 1996 gave voice to a Broadway generation, has finally become an energetic, passionate, and touching movie musical. Based loosely on Puccini's La Bohème, it focuses on the year in the life of a group of friends in New York's East Village--"bohemians" who live carefree lives of art, music, sex, and drugs. Well, carefree until Mark, an aspiring filmmaker (Anthony Rapp), and Roger, an aspiring songwriter (Adam Pascal), find out they owe a year's rent to Benny (Taye Diggs), a former friend who had promised them free residence when he married the landlord's daughter. Roger has also attracted the attention of his downstairs neighbor, Mimi (Rosario Dawson), while Mark's former girlfriend, Maureen (Idina Menzel), has found a new romance in a lawyer named Joanne (Tracie Thoms). Philosophy professor Tom (Jesse L. Martin) finds his soul mate in drag queen Angel (Wilson Jermaine Heredia). But because this is the late-'80s, the threat of AIDS is always present.
The remarkable thing about Rent the movie is that nearly 10 years after the show debuted on Broadway, six of the eight principals return in the roles they originated. They're a bit older than would be ideal for their characters, but they do have the advantage of having learned the show directly from creator Jonathan Larson (who died of an aortic aneurysm while the show was in previews), plus they started young--we're not exactly talking Sarah Brightman and Michael Crawford here. Alongside a polished performance like Rapp's--sometimes observer-commentator, sometimes participant in two of the score's showstoppers, "The Tango Maureen" and "La Vie Boheme"--the two new additions (Thoms in place of Fredi Walker, Dawson in place of the edgier Daphne Rubin-Vega) slip comfortably into the ensemble; the pivotal Dawson makes a seductive case as Mimi when she tempts Roger in the mesmerizing "Light My Candle" or burns up the stage of the Catscratch Club in "Out Tonight." Moviegoers who have an aversion to people who break into song while walking down the street probably won't have their minds changed by Rent (even if they are singing rock songs), and the gritty subject matter and lack of big-name stars make it unlikely to cross over to general audiences the way Chicago did. But fans of musicals should find "Seasons of Love" as stirring as ever, and the show's passionate admirers--the "Rentheads"--probably couldn't have wished for a more sympathetic director than Rent fan Chris Columbus, or a more faithful representation of the show they love. --David Horiuchi
On the DVD
Three powerful musical numbers cut from the final film are the highlight of the two-disc DVD. In the aftermath of the funeral scene, Anthony Rapp sings "Halloween," and he, Adam Pascal, and Rosario Dawson share "Goodbye Love" (both songs were in the stage version). Then in an alternate ending, the cast finishes "No Day But Today" on the bare stage on which the film began. There are worthwhile arguments for why these scenes were cut or replaced, so it's fortunate that the DVD lets us see these at all. Those musical numbers have optional commentary by director Chris Columbus, Rapp, and Pascal (two other cut scenes have no commentary), including one funny moment in which Rapp explains in great detail the technical challenge of shooting "Halloween" only to have Columbus say, "Yeah, but I don't know if that's the take we used." The three also provide commentary on the film itself, with Columbus discussing various decisions, criticizing the critics, and marveling "I still don't know how we got the PG-13," and Rapp and Pascal occasionally recalling differences in the stage version.
The other whopper of a feature is No Day But Today, a nearly two-hour documentary that uses video clips, still photographs, and interviews with family and friends to celebrate the short life of Jonathan Larson and his creation. Topics include his early interest in musical theater ("I want to write the Hair for the '90s."), the support of Stephen Sondheim, the impact of the AIDS epidemic, the long and difficult road of Rent (casting the show, Larson learning to collaborate, the transfer to a Broadway stage, and the Rentheads), and Larson's tragic death. The last 20 minutes covers the making of the film, director Chris Columbus, the decision to rely on most of the original cast (the only two principals who didn't appear in the movie, Daphne Rubin-Vega and Fredi Walker-Browne, are interviewed in earlier segments, but only mentioned in passing here), recording sessions, and location shooting. If the movie of Rent was a tribute to Jonathan Larson, the DVD is all that and more, a moving and incredibly detailed look at an extraordinary talent whom the world lost far too soon. --David Horiuchi
More Rent
 Movie soundtrack |  Original Broadway cast recording |  Anthony Rapp's Without You: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and the Musical "Rent" |
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