Review of Rent (2005) by Susans. — 25 Nov 2005

Actually, about a 7.8...it's what we all feared would happen when the man most known for directing Home Alone and the two bad Harry Potter movies got his hands on the musical that brought a younger, hipper crowd to the Broadway scene.

However, even the king of schmaltz couldn't completely ruin Jonathon Larson's dynamic, edgy, witty, energetic retelling of La Boheme. He manages to take out just about everything that made the show appeal to the hipsters, but he manages to keep the message intact.

I enjoyed the movie a lot, and really enjoyed seeing most of the original cast doing their thing, but I missed the dark humor and irony that drove the original conception. Columbus did what he does best, watering down profound concepts until even your grandparents won't be offended in addition to turning jokes and sass in melodrama, but the material is strong enough on it's own to hold up as a good watch.

A really good watch at that, compared to what was coming out in the mainstream around it. For the pedestrian movie-goer, this movie might be both shocking and insightful--this is good, but Rent-heads might be slightly disappointed when the lines that they're singing in their heads have been replaced by odd-sounding spoken dialogue or empty music.

But please, for the sake of Jonathon Larson's legacy and the outstanding performances by the original cast, go see it.