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    Rent

    Reviewed by
    the_crazycanuck@

    Before I begin, I know that I publicly boytcotted Rent. And don't think me hypocritical, I did see Rent, but I didn't break my boycott as technically I did not pay for it, and thus did not fuel any more of Christopher Columbus's cinematic abominations. Free movie passes you see. Okay so summing up my Rent experience in one sentence, it was not nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be. Honestly I went in expecting absolute rubbish, I'd heard rumours of folks walking out of the theatre, and I was scared that I might be wasting my time. However, when I left the theatre two hours and twenty minutes later I did not feel cheated of the time, which is a big positive coming out of a Chris Columbus film. Based on the Tony award winning Broadway musical, Rent follows the lives of several Bohemians living in New York. The characters are the real hilight, bright and original and at times even heartwearming. The relationships of both friends and lovers light up the screen, and provide for some very emotional moments. The music, while perhaps not my cup of tea, is somewhat catchy and very standable. The plot is actually quite sophisticated for a musical, and I enjoyed watching these great characters go through some difficult experiences, as the actors are so strong they convey realistic reactions and turn what might be a cheesy musical into a powerful drama. I was especially impressed with Jesse L. Martin and his gay characters' relationship with a male transvestite named Angel. While the relationship was undoubtebly strange and bizarre movie material, it was also simplistically beautiful, and it moved me to see something we don't normally see on film played out so well on screen. One of the main thoughts I had watching Rent was that the film would translate very well as a straight up drama, without the musical numbers, very well. That's how good the cast and characters were. But that about does it for the positives however. The biggest problem Rent experiences is that given the setting and material of the story, it just does not translate at all to film. The actors's are giving their very best, but Chris Columbus being the incompetent blunderhead he is, doesn't give them anything to work with. The camera work is absolutely appalling, there's no flair, no colour or beauty at all. I was reminded of Chicago, the majesty of it's cinematography, and how little Rent was like that. As a result of Columbus' poor camera control, and jaw-droppingly pathetic editing and general timing and pace of the film, the emotional impact of the story doesn't hit hard enough. It should be like a rough punch in the gut, but we get is a soft brush in the shoulder. The movie sags heavily in the beginning as it slips sloppily into carelessly thrown together musical numbers, and I began to roll my eyes. It picks up a little near the last quarter, but obviously still lacked the strength of a intelligent and skilled director at the helm. Not that everything is Columbus' fault mind you, his editor seems like they're fresh out of school, and his cinematographer just seemed plain bored and had no idea how to properly shoot a musical in that setting. Which again is very difficult to shoot in the settings the movie gets into, but still you've got to find a way around that as a filmmaker. Overall Rent is a terrific effort by the actors, and has the potential to be a phenomenal human drama, but it's not meant to be that way, it's a musical. The film just does not work, pure and simple, poor direction mostly kills it, but it is not as bad as I might have thought it'd be.

    6
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    the_crazycanuck@  12.12.2005 age: 13-17 37 reviews

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