I’ll admit the first time I watched this movie I wasn’t a huge fan. But when I sat down and really watched it I fell in love. It makes me cry everytime!

I’d have preferred watching bootlegged copy of the (Broadway) musical.
Great story, great score, but Chris Columbus should realize that he can’t direct.

Either you’re gonna like this movie, or you’re not. I definitely loved this movie for its music and its story. In fact, I wanna watch it again! But I wanna watch it again with someone else, though.

Forget about the simplistic storylines or the naive political stance of the film. Rent is simply a celebration of youth and idealism in the face of decadence and disease. It is about being a rebel with and without a cause, it is about not giveing in or giving up, and it is about love, friendship and rock’n roll. The music is catchy, the New York setting is nice, and the overall performance from the cast is great. Columbus, whom I usually dislike, did a good job with this film, which, like its musical counterpart, is really a tribute to the spirit of a particular time, place and group of people. Despite some of its flaws, I believe the film has captured the energy and essence of the original musical.

This movie is a perfect example of a musical that just does not translate well to a movie. Most of the performances were good (barring Adam Pascal, who was just too painful to watch), but the film just did not fill out the story enough to hold my attention. Halfway through, I was checking my watch every five minutes.

This musical is wrong on so many levels, I can’t even begin.

I did like (most of) the score, and I love love loved Angel. But otherwise the whole enterprise is ridiculous, self-absorbed, unbelievable, and utterly superficial. Oh well. Glad I saw it so now I know.