TrueJoshNight Truly Dreadful Film

Matcollis This Movie Can Only Be Described With One Word.

Sammy-Jo Cervantes There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

Aspen Orson There is definitely an excellent idea hidden in the background of the film. Unfortunately, it's difficult to find it.

Christian Writer/ Director Stephen Chbosky gets all the right notes from this acclaimed musical and deep-reaching story and lyrics. The actors and atmosphere of sadness, seduction, friendship, hardship and rebellion shine. The film medium is well used to make a remarkable adaptation, using some of the original cast. Chbosky masters the material and makes a fitting legacy.Based on the late Jonathan Larson's Broadway Musical masterpiece, this film fits well with the 2005 themes of sexual orientation and identity and deals with homosexuality, HIV/AIDS, drugs, relationships, art and bohemian lifestyle in a hard, yet enchanting way. Great music, lyrics and editing. Dark and not for everyone, it is funny with plenty of witticism and likewise endearing. Good signing and acting from a strong ensemble cast. This will have you signing and thinking for a while.

Tucker2007 If you're not one of those weird theater-crazy hippy types then this movie probably won't be for you. Personally I don't like musicals that much to begin with, but there have been some that I've enjoyed despite that fact. The South Park movie and Sweeney Todd for example. This movie however made me want to never see a musical ever again. The songs are so clunky and just.. bad.. It's like you'd have to be on a butt load of pain killers to enjoy songs like Seasons of Love. Seasons of Love should be the theme song for the Mormon faith; it's so cheesy, uninspired, and makes you want to puke because it's so overly happy. "One Song Glory" makes me want to punch the nearest breathing thing in the throat. It is such an annoying song that it irritates me just writing about it. I don't remember a whole lot about the story since its been a few years since I've seen this movie. Mostly that everyone has AIDS and owes rent money from last year. Also that guy wants to write a good song so he'll be known after he dies of AIDS. Other than that I got nothing. It was boring and painful to watch.

Irishchatter I honestly loved the opening theme song of ' Seasons of Love'. It's just an incredible way to start one of the most recognized musicals in the whole wide world.The rest of the music was great. As usual after her success in the Broadway musical 'Wicked', Idina Menzel killed it with her role as a bisexual woman. Like seriously, you can get that girl into anything! I'm so glad she got involved with voicing Elsa in Frozen. She is a legend. Just stunning!And how can we forget Wilson Jermaine Heredia aka Angel. He looked fabulously smashing dressing up as a drag queen. He really had a lot of energy and his love for Tom Collins just made you smile! I was so gutted that he died from aids. I felt so deeply sorry for Collins cause they were such a cute couple together :((Roger had the best voice with his own rock style. I think himself and Mini were meant for each other. I'm happy they rekindled in the end because it wouldn't make sense for them not being together! I absolutely loved watching this musical, it was so enjoyable!

TheLittleSongbird Not the best film musical in the world but a long way from the worst. Is it as good as the stage show? Not quite, then again that is always a big ask, any musical deserves to stand on its own two feet and Rent certainly does that. Is it perfect? No, some of the last third does feel rushed, the direction in a couple of the musical numbers does have a slightly overblown music video quality that didn't fit with the rest and Benny's part is reduced so much to the point of being a caricature and he did seem too much of a plot device. Is it good? Yes it definitely is, its best parts are actually great. On the most part it does look good, the costumes, lighting and sets are appropriately colourful and gritty, perfectly matching the atmosphere and story and the photography is mostly fine. The choreography has so much energy to the extent that in the upbeat numbers(especially La Vie Boheme) you're tapping your toes, Chris Columbus's direction is more than competent(at least he gives off the feeling that he had a good idea how to direct a musical, which is more than I can say for for example Richard Attenborough for A Chorus Line and Sidney Lumet for The Wiz, to me Annie gets too much undeserved hate) and the script is written amusingly at times, but mostly in a way that really resonates with the audiences emotionally. Not everybody likes the story in Rent, but to me it does have shock value(if not as much as in the late 80s-early 90s) that is portrayed in a harrowing and heart-wrenching way. As an adaptation there is some tinkering like a few song cuts but I found it fairly faithful in spirit to the stage show. But the best component of Rent is easily the score, which is nothing short of brilliant. Sure it has songs that are better than others, then again that is common in musicals, but all range to uplifting to heartfelt, there is lots of energy but also a fair share of pathos. The performances are equally terrific, their characters are not as well fleshed out as the stage show but the cast look comfortable and do a good job in still making them believable.Jesse L Martin's character has the most compelling story arc, and Martin sounds great and delivers with great emotion and spirit, it is very different to his role on Law and Order which is testament to how talented and versatile Martin is. Wilson Jermaine Heredia and Tracie Thoms are similarly great for similar reasons to Martin(Heredia also benefits from being a great dancer), and Rosario Dawson is heart-breaking especially in the latter part of the film. Adam Pascal is ever so slightly stiff in places but is incredibly emotive and his vocals don't disappoint either and Idina Menzel looks as though she is having so much fun even though Maureen is not very well developed here and her vocals are powerhouse quality. Taye Diggs is disadvantaged by what is done to Benny but does his best and is hardly a liability. In conclusion, solid stuff that could have been better. 7/10 Bethany Cox