'Rent' Movie Review (Unmarked Spoilers)

innerSpaceman · 11-29-2005, 11:08 AM

Well, GC is quite right about box office being a highly flawed indicator of quality. Nevertheless, a complete bomb of a very famous work is, to me, an indicator of something amiss.

A very important indicator, to me, of a good musical ... is good music. I know a lot of people like the songs in Rent, but - like zapp - I found them utterly unmemorable. For an operetta piece of 98% musical content, the songs are even more important ... and thus Rent was even more disappointing.

Hmpfh, I had the feeling that the characters were loosely based on La Boheme, but that doesn't excuse how flimsy and hollow they seemed. The characters and stories, as written, were beyond thin. I don't think any of the performers other than Martin were up to the task of overcoming the limitations of the book. Martin may have been a stage actor to begin with, but he clearly honed his ability to handle screen acting by, um, doing screen acting.

Good songs might have saved this weaksauce mix of characters and plot. But they did not.

Alex · 11-29-2005, 11:44 AM

I think the music of Rent is hugely augmented by the charisma of the performers and the bond they create with a live audience. The first time I saw Rent on stage it was just overwhelmingly powerful and I think it was because of that bond.

Most of you know that I don't listen to music but Lani does and without the live audience, listening to the soundtrack I do find the music underwhelming and very stagey.

At the last minute Lani picked Walk the Line over Rent so I haven't seen it yet, but I'm hoping that a similar kind of bond can be formed with a film audience, though it is much more difficult than on stage. Some friends are reporting applause after certain numbers (while another said it felt awkward that the movie seemed to have applause pauses when there was no applause).

Also, I'd like to ask Steve to go argue my case over in the Harry Potter thread since our arguments are kind of similar (in reviewing without familiarity with the source).

11-29-2005, 11:08 AM	#1
innerSpaceman Kink of Swank Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Inner Space Posts: 13,075	Well, GC is quite right about box office being a highly flawed indicator of quality. Nevertheless, a complete bomb of a very famous work is, to me, an indicator of something amiss. A very important indicator, to me, of a good musical ... is good music. I know a lot of people like the songs in Rent, but - like zapp - I found them utterly unmemorable. For an operetta piece of 98% musical content, the songs are even more important ... and thus Rent was even more disappointing. Hmpfh, I had the feeling that the characters were loosely based on La Boheme, but that doesn't excuse how flimsy and hollow they seemed. The characters and stories, as written, were beyond thin. I don't think any of the performers other than Martin were up to the task of overcoming the limitations of the book. Martin may have been a stage actor to begin with, but he clearly honed his ability to handle screen acting by, um, doing screen acting. Good songs might have saved this weaksauce mix of characters and plot. But they did not.
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11-29-2005, 11:44 AM	#2
Alex . Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 13,354	I think the music of Rent is hugely augmented by the charisma of the performers and the bond they create with a live audience. The first time I saw Rent on stage it was just overwhelmingly powerful and I think it was because of that bond. Most of you know that I don't listen to music but Lani does and without the live audience, listening to the soundtrack I do find the music underwhelming and very stagey. At the last minute Lani picked Walk the Line over Rent so I haven't seen it yet, but I'm hoping that a similar kind of bond can be formed with a film audience, though it is much more difficult than on stage. Some friends are reporting applause after certain numbers (while another said it felt awkward that the movie seemed to have applause pauses when there was no applause). Also, I'd like to ask Steve to go argue my case over in the Harry Potter thread since our arguments are kind of similar (in reviewing without familiarity with the source).
	Submit to Quotes