Horrible, fascist and poorly acted

A bit overrated, but still an amazing film

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

I am very surprised at some of the negative reviews for this film. I never saw the Broadway musical on which the movie was based, so I don't have the advantage of having the live performance to compare to the movie. I have to say that the film really touched me, and I generally haven't liked most of the recent musical films that I've seen. All of the songs in Rent have heavy and deep meanings behind them since there's hardly any spoken dialogue. This means that Rent moves forward on the strength of its songs. Each number furthers the plot and reveals another aspect of a character.Playwright Jonathan Larson was an amazing human being with such a talent for - at the time he wrote it back in the early 90's - being so "out there" and taking the risk of writing about AIDS and homosexuality, and ultimately having his work find its way into the hearts of so many people. If you wrote an actual script in which the young author of such a wildly successful Pulitzer winning musical dies the night after its dress rehearsal after being misdiagnosed by two different hospitals, nobody would believe you, but that is exactly what happened. It is also a shame that the actual reality of life in Alphabet City (now very much gentrified) and the nature of the AIDS crisis and treatments have changed so much that many people might not consider this film's greatness because they will regard it as out of date. I guess I just found the movie to be brilliant because it wasn't supposed to be absolutely realistic, it was supposed to evoke emotion, and that it did, at least for me. None of the individual relationships get that much screen time, yet I really cared deeply about all of these characters, both as a group and individually.You could really feel the urgency of time pressing on the characters that had AIDS - the urgency to create, the urgency to love, - since, in 1990, there were not a lot of therapies that effectively prevented HIV from turning into full blown AIDS as there are today. Also, if you are not moved by Collins' tribute to Angel in the reprise performance of "I'll Cover You", all I can say is that you have no soul. Jesse Martin does a splendid job of displaying a genuine sense of loss, grief, and love that is the best performance in the entire movie.Rent is one of those few films that I like to watch over and over just to see if I have missed anything. It does seem like some of the movie's detractors are being a bit snobby about the fact that Chris Columbus, who is well known for directing family films, directed this movie. Unfortunately, Bob Fosse is no longer with us, because I have found myself wondering more than once what he would have done with this material.

Sorry for spoiling the ending, but it's really the only complaint I have about the movie.Before I start, this is, without a doubt, one of the best musicals I've ever seen, with great actors and beautiful, awesome music, but the ending, while not horrible, wasn't the best, for these reasons.It seemed a little drawn out. There were several instances where I thought the movie would end; the screen would blacken, and then boom! Another song? Not that that's a bad thing, just appeared to be drawn out a bit.The other thing, is there was a death. When Angel died, sure it seemed sad, but I never really got to know him. Okay, he's transgender, and has a relationship with one of the main characters. That's about all we know about him. It might have been implied he's a bit of a dancer for money (near the beginning of the movie), but we don't know anything about him, really, or for that fact, anything about many of the characters, therefore when Angel died, sure it was sad, but I just didn't really feel too much, just a bit sad.Since I'm on the topic of death, here's the main reason why it went from 10/10 to 9/10. Angel died, and then Mimi goes missing. Of course they find her, and then the movie does the "She appears dead, but actually isn't for some reason" cliché. When she appeared dead, sure I wondered if she was actually going to die, but I was rolling my eyes because just like, minutes before that Angel died. I wasn't sad when Mimi appears to be dead, I was actually like, "Come on. I'll be pretty mad if two characters die in a row."Just a little thing, but the ending was also so confusing. So much happened. We never really got to mourn too much over Angel, and how did he die, exactly? So much happened I don't even know how he died, so while his funeral was going on, that question was going on through my mind.Anyway, enough with my complaints. All these things were at the end of the movie, but the rest of the movie, the movie as a whole, was excellent. I absolutely love it, and highly recommend it!

i love love Rent! i remember the day i watched it with my sister and i was wondering why they were singing and then we realized that it was a musical. Omg what talent and what acting!!!!!!! Such an inspiring and great movie, it will forever be one of my favorite movies of all time. truly moving and showed people realities living in new york at that time. It was so so so great and i just couldn't believe it. It had such heart and depth and it had a great message about how we need to live each day to the last. we need to live no day but today. Rent inspired me greatly and it changed my life. I got into Broadway and made me have a love for musical theatre like never before.

This film sports the talents of some really fine triple threats (actors who can also sing and dance) . But despite that it is one of the absolutely stupidest pieces of entertainment fakery I have seen in years. The music is bad. The lyrics are vapid and meaningless, the story is ridiculous and simplistic. But the sets, cinematography and the verve of the cast is admirable. Is it enough to make this film worth watching? No. Couched in important topical themes (poverty, AIDS, bohemian rebellion, alternative sexuality) and adorned with a set of characters and cast that are supposed to represent some kind of non-racial, post sexual revolution fantasy hipness, this film is a sanitized guided tour for rich heterosexuals who have never made any kind of artistic or social sacrifice so they can feel they've been cleansed by the holy waters of bohemian rebellion that they would never dare dip into themselves. Or perhaps its a vehicle to give the entertainment industry sufficient street cred to revert to the racist, sexist, class conscious crap that it prefers. Of course maybe its just a way to commodify and monetize bohemia which the entertainment pimperati can take to the hedge fund. Take your pick or combine any one of the these three motivations. Or better yet don't waste your time.