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And it's very easy to say that the movie is not doing well because it's about gays and AIDS, but that's - imo- really missing the mark. This is probably the most famous Broadway musical in a decade, and I don't think the vague homosexual subject matter of a couple of the poorly developed subplots is putting anybody off.
I will amend that to say that perhaps the piece has a reputation for being depressing. It's sorta well known that one character dies from AIDS and that it comes off sad. That could be putting folks off, I suppose.
But we'll never know. If Rent were an otherwise good movie, I'd say we could determine if the subject matter itself were the problem. Frankly, I was surprised at how little gay there was in the piece, but unsurprised it was a stage-bound piece that was lame when transferred so faithfully and slavishly to the screen.
Chris Columbus did the piece a disservice in trying to "preserve" it, just as he did a disservice to Harry Potter in simply preserving the two books he filmed directly off the page. Sure, they did well at the box office. But go watch those two Potter movies now, and see how poorly they compare to the later two that were far more adapted as movies for the film medium.
While watching Rent, I was reminded of another purely stage musical that should never have been filmed ... A Chorus Line. What a folly it was to try to capture that show - so quintessentially Broadway- in a film. Rent is almost as stage-bound, and it would have taken far more of an artist than the devotee Columbus to translate that material to something that would make a good movie musical.
BTW, it's usually - though not always - a big mistake to cast the original stage actors in a film. I don't think it's any accident that it's Jesse Martin - a screen actor - who comes off best in this movie. I repeat: Chris Columbus is a hack.
But for those of you who want a lasting momento of the stage show, I guess this DVD will be better than a Playbill.
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