Rent (2005)

Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes. How do you measure a year? In daylights, in sunsets, in midnights, in cups of coffee. In inches, in miles, in laughter, in strife. In hilarity ensuing. Based on Puccini's La Boheme, Rent tells the story of one year in the life of friends living the Bohemian life in modern day East Village, New York City, 1989-1990. Among the group are our narrator, nerdy love-struck filmmaker Mark Cohen (Anthony Rapp); the object of Mark's affection, his former girlfriend, Maureen Johnson (Idina Menzel); Maureen's Harvard-educated public interest lawyer and lesbian lover Joanne Jefferson (Traci Thoms); Mark's roommate, HIV-positive musician and former junkie, Roger Davis (Adam Pascal); Roger's new girlfriend, the HIV-positive drug addicted S&M dancer, Mimi Marquez (Rosario Dawson); their former roommate, HIV-positive computer genius Tom Collins (Jesse L. Martin); Collins' HIV-positive drag queen street musician/lover Angel (Wilson Jermain Heredia); and Benjamin Coffin III (Taye Diggs) a former member of the group who married for money and has since become their landlord and the opposite of everything they stand for. It shows how much changes or doesn't change in the 525,600 minutes that make up a year.


Trivia: Taye Diggs (Benny), Wilson Jermaine Heredia (Angel), Jesse L. Martin (Collins), Idina Menzel (Maureen), Adam Pascal (Roger), and Anthony Rapp (Mark) are all from the Original Broadway Cast of RENT in 1996 and are playing their original roles. The New Year's Eve sequence was turned into an actual party for the cast and the celebrating was real. During "The Tango Maureen", the eyebrow lift and jacket toss were added because the actors were having fun during rehearsals and the director liked it. Jesse L. Martin's character of Det. Green on the NBC show "Law & Order" (1990) was shot in the line of duty to allow Martin to take several months off to film Rent. Several character names are updated from La Boheme. Marcello the painter became Mark the filmmaker; Rudolfo the poet became Roger the musician; Colline the philosopher became Tom Collins. Benoit the landlord became Benny married-to-the-daughter-of-the-landlord, Musetta became Maureen, and Alcindoro the rich elderly man became Joanne the young female lawyer. Schaunard the musician became Angel. Mimi the young downstairs neighbor has the same name in both shows. The characters of Ali, Gordon, Pam, and Sue in the Life support meeting are named after writer Jonathan Larson's friends who died of AIDS.


I watched this because Kim really liked it and I want to say thanks. I loved this movie. I kew I was going to like it from the first number when the principle characters are on an empty stage singing the 525,600 minute song. It was vibrant. It was fun. It was poignant. The music was superb. I also really liked that Tango song and the La Boheme song. You know, there is just something about a Broadway musical compared to, say, an MGM musical. It is amazing how they can create the songs that really advance the story. It is like a modern day opera that you can actually understand. I know this IS a modern day version of an opera, but they still had to create the modern songs and music for it. I had actually thought about making this my "R" movie for my alphabet project, but I found a better choice to fill that role, so this got bumped up to the front. So Kim, keep recommending movies, because I have liked everything you have recommended so far. Any anybody who hasn't seen it, you should, just listen to my sister, she knows what she is talking about.