It requires a very special kind of talent – the kind that wears a helmet in elementary school, perhaps – to take a 10-year-long winning formula and regurgitate it as an inconsistent disaster of a movie-musical that, in it’s best moments, strove to achieve the heights of, say, a Bon Jovi music video.  Welcome to “Rent,” the movie.

Download “Rent” Movie

Now, let’s be fair… Jonathan Larson was not an infallible genius. Rent, the original, has its own set of problems… a score that swings too old-school Broadway in some songs, ungainly timing, at-times insipid and predictable lyrics, and an occasionally overdone commitment to melodrama. However, the end result is so original and inspiring that it’s just about impossible to not overlook the hiccups. Film is a much more forgiving master than the stage, with re-shoots and nearly unlimited opportunity for directorially-driven emotional manipulation, which is why the idea of transitioning Rent onto the screen holds so much potential.  Unrealized potential, as it turns out.

Some credit must be granted for the opening scene, an acknowledgment of the Broadway roots that grew the worldwide phenomenon that is Rent.  Then the film cuts to the next scene, which we’ll call the “Heralding in the Disaster” or “The Kind of Garbage You’ll be Watching for the Next 133 Minutes” scene. This is where we quickly learn just how badly Rent has been mangled in the clumsy hands of Chris Columbus, renowned, appropriately, for his “Home Alone” series of movies. And so the agony goes for another 2+ hours, relieved only slightly by occasional high notes that serve to underscore just how great the transition to film could have been if someone else had led it.

Perhaps most offensive is that Chris Columbus took liberties revising the score, and did it badly. Quite often it seemed as though the instrumental score and vocals were arranged independently from one another, with flippant hopes for the best. Many entire songs were cut, which also eliminated critical elements of storyline, very few of which were re-introduced. Half of the songs that were not cut were revised into crazily lilting, rhyming dialogue reminiscent of Dr. Suess.  Evidence of Chris Columbus’s discomfort with the musical aspects of his musical are sprinkled throughout the film, with the introduction of nonsensical and elaborate contortions designed solely for the inclusion of a song rendered illogical by the elimination of central exposition.

Most disturbing of the storyline eliminations is not one or two highly important pieces, but an overall trend of removing conflict. Conflict is what drives a story and makes it enjoyable and believable. Conflict is the catalyst for changes in our characters, which bring about an acceptable and fulfilling conclusion. In the wake of this excessive cutting, our characters become irrational and impulsive, and the escalating circumstances continually more implausible.

The complexity of Jonathan Larson’s original characters is entirely lost in this interpretation, leaving one-dimensional, boring whiners. Gone is Roger’s progression out of reclusive depression (not that we would know why he was in that state anyway, with the decision to eliminate mention of April’s suicide), as is Mark’s awkward acceptance of living life sans camera.  Sadly, we also miss out on getting to know Angel, who seems to be used more as shock value (look, a drag queen!) and colorful scenery than as an active contributor to and force in the story… The heavy-handed theatrics employed to persuade the audience into sadness at Angel’s death would have unnecessary had we been allowed to connect with Angel ourselves, and see, on our own, the tragic beauty in her story, rather than hearing the cast give examples in a funeral scene.

Also injusticed was the character of Benny, who was hacked into a shadow of the original.  Benny, in the film, is a convenience role, used only to fill glaring gaps left by massive revisions.  He’s no longer a character we get to, or want to, know, and his random appearances are curious and unexplained.  Chris Columbus missed a golden opportunity to explore racial themes by eliminating Benny being dumped by his upper-crust wife, Allison, whose father, in the film, is white.

There were some high moments, which would make this a rentable (no pun intended) movie on a night when there’s nothing better to do.  “Tango Maureen” is delicious, although the transition to and from the choreographed tango scene is startlingly abrupt. “La Vie Boheme,” although it had a few small hiccups, was a fun foot-tapper. “Take Me or Leave Me,” was well done, and “I’ll Cover You,” performed by Collins and Angel, was phenomenal.

It was an interesting decision to include so much of the original cast – all but two
originated their roles. Tracie Thoms, the new Joanne, was truly excellent in every regard.
Rosario Dawson, the new Mimi, was respectable in her role; as an accomplished film actress, she had a better understanding of the art of discreet performance than some of the other actors. She has a lovely singing voice, still showing some signs of by-the-books vocal training, but lacked the raw power that we all loved in Daphne Rubin-Vega’s rendition.

There was a detectable difference in performance quality between the actors who are
experienced with television/film, and those whose backgrounds rest solely on the stage.
Film acting and stage acting are markedly different, and some of the histrionics that
make Anthony Rapp, Adam Pascal and Idina Menzel good stage actors made them over-the-top and insincere on film. Wilson Jermaine Heredia delivered a remarkable performance (with the exception of “Today for You, Tomorrow for Me,” an unmitigated disaster in every regard), in spite of his Broadway roots. Rosario Dawson, as mentioned above, presented a finely tuned Mimi and Taye Diggs was mesmerizing as Benny in the
very few moments where we actually saw him. Undoubtedly, the strongest performance in the film was that of Jesse L. Martin, who captured the brilliant, eccentric giddiness of Collins in a most glorious way. Luminous in every scene, he was the sole actor who managed to slip past Chris Columbus’s ministrations to deliver a multi-layered character who we love in high moments and low… with the remarkable expressiveness of his eyes alone, we understood his love for Angel and his grief at her passing. The audience sat a little taller whenever he was on the screen and forgot, for a moment, just how awful and disappointing this movie was.

Jaimie Marzullo is a nonfiction writer and avid fan of well-made films, who studied Theatre at the State University of New York at Buffalo.

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