Rent

Make sure you watch the deleted scenes (unless they put them where they should be in the movie). Apparently test audiences said the movie got too heavy, too sad, so they cut out HUGE scenes where Mark makes his growth near the end and everything and everyone go their own ways. Some songs that explain a lot about some of the key turmoil were left on the cutting room floor. I'll never understand this. You could have made the movie 10-15 minutes longer and you'd have had a complete story.

It’s the best musical ever!

The short answer: go look up Rent: Filmed Live on Broadway. It's on iTunes. The cast may not be the original that this film boasts, but the 2009 cast is fantastic. It's an all around much better experience, and I would highly recommend it to anyone who wants to actually see Rent as it should be seen. The long answer: I saw this movie when it came out in theaters way back in 2005, and I walked out. I thought maybe I'd like it now that I knew the musical better, and I've discovered that knowing the songs and having a strong grip on the plot is the only way to understand this movie. It's nearly impossible to follow if you don't know the musical, and that's a problem. It feels like they took lines and songs from Rent, put them on cards and then played 52 pickup. No song is where you expect it to be, and some songs are gone without a trace. The director had some interesting ideas on how to frame some scenes on a bigger scale like the "Over the Moon" riot, but it would have been better off if this was done as a series of Music Videos. That's just how disjointed this is, especially since many lines that are meant to be sung are instead stated. Is this a musical or not? That's the biggest problem overall: it doesn't know what it is. They tried to take this play out of the context of a Broadway stage and replace it in a film environment. Films are so different from live theater it's not even funny. The reason this is so awkward and janky is because they tried shoving a square peg into a star-shaped hole. The part that makes the least sense to me is that the entire first Act is meant to take place over the course of a single night, while the second Act is meant to take place over the course of a year. That's one of the most significant parts of the play. It takes so much out of the oriinal intent and message. This movie just took Rent, turned it on its head and said, "Nothing changed. This play is totally right side up, I assure you." To be honest, I could go on and on about how this movie failed to deliver, but I'll go ahead and stop here. Go watch the 2009 cast instead. Also I now feel totally justified in my walkout back in 2005.

if you love musicals, this is a great one!

I rewatched this film recently and I had forgotten how good it was. I respect many of the critics who reviewed it, but I feel as though we saw an entirely different film. It's so well done by Chris Columbus and he took on something not easy to do - he took a beloved, groundbreaking stage play and transitioned it seamlessly to the screen. Inventive, honest, raw performances, fantastically sung and shot, and without ego as many directors do trying to put their personal stamp on a known project, especially one with such a following as this one. Highly recommend and far more inventive than so much of the cookie cutter franchise stuff at the movies right now.

You can say whatever you want, but honestly RENT is the best broadway musical of all time (yeah I said it, the Broadway version was better than the movie) No bad songs can be found in this production. It's one of this stories where you have to watch it a couple of times before you get the full jist. If you're a devoted Broadway theater geek, check out this musical and you'll fall in love (but watch the full Broadway production on YouTube first) Adam Pascal has gold in his throat, and honestly brought his character to life. The cast us amazing, the musical is amazing. I will pay you one hundred dollars if you can find a single flaw in this...

They RUINED IT by cutting “Goodbye Love”. Otherwise it was a pretty good film adaptation. But the moment when Mimi comes to say goodbye to Roger is a PIVOTAL MOMENT, not to mention one of the most beautiful ballads in the play. Terrible judgement call cutting that scene. Just terrible.

AAAHHAHHAHHHHH THIS MOVIE IS SO GREAT AND ASDFIAWR TIEWATIGJOAGAKLFDSKJ SLKFJ GA

This movie is defiantly the best I've ever seen!!!

The title says it all.