After many, many years of talk and rumours, the movie version of Rent was finally released in November of 2005. It features almost the entire original cast, with the exception of Daphne Ruben-Vega, who was replaced by Rosario Dawson as Mimi, and Fredi Walker, who was replaced by Tracie Thoms as Joanne.
Of course, my biggest concern as always with a film version was for the material. I knew there would be cuts and rearrangements, and I wanted to see how that was going to affect the overall feel of the piece. I’m happy to say that, for me at least, they didn’t greatly detract from the show. (Though you should have seen me when I thought they were going to leave out “Will I”!) There were definitely parts that I missed (like “Halloween”, or several of the parts with different storylines happening at once), but for the most part, I understand why the decisions were made, and they didn’t have a huge negative impact on the show as a whole.
I was a little confused about why the timeline was changed – I guess maybe it just seemed like too much to all have happening in one night. But then lyrics like “What was it about that night?” in “What You Own” don’t work quite as well.
Having the original cast gave it a wonderful authenticity, and even though they’re all 10 years older than when the show opened, nobody seemed out of place. I can’t pick favourites, they’re all too good – Anthony Rapp, Wilson Jermaine Heredia, Jesse L. Martin and Idina Menzel especially.
I loved the whole “Tango Maureen” sequence, and the “Without You” montage ending in Angel’s death – I admit it, I cried!! “La Vie Boheme” was as high energy as always, and I liked the flashbacks during “One Song Glory”.
Cheesiest moment of the film has to go to the whole Santa Fe sequence, with Roger singing in the desert. It was way too “Blaze of Glory” for me. 🙂 I’m also unsure how I felt about “Today 4 U”, and “Santa Fe”…they just didn’t feel as natural as most of the other songs.
Anyway, as far as movie versions of musicals go, I think this one was quite well done. I’ve seen it twice in the theatre, and will definitely be buying it once it comes out on DVD. However, it still doesn’t replace seeing the show for yourself – if you have a chance to check it out on stage, do it!