'Rent' Lives Up to the Hype

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    Hollywood has always had a hard time translating musicals into film. However, "Rent" is the exception to the rule.

   Directed by Chris Columbus, of Harry Potter fame, and starring six of the original Broadway cast members, "Rent" is an energetic film about Bohemians living and dying in New York at the end of the 20th century.

   The main protagonists are roommates Mark (Anthony Rapp) and Roger (Adam Pascal). Along the way they are joined by Tom Collins (Jesse L. Martin) and his transvestite lover Angel (Wilson Heredia), as well as Mark’s ex-girlfriend turned lesbian Maureen (Idina Menzel).

   The film captures a year in the life of these characters as they struggle with poverty, heroin abuse and AIDS. What is more entertaining is they do most of it while singing. That's the surprising thing about "Rent": you will be singing the songs long after you have left the theater.

   Even though half the movie is singing, the subject matter is a paradox of absurdity and dead-on seriousness. Several characters in the movie have AIDS including Roger and his current interest Mimi Marquez (Rosaria Dawson), an S&M dancer, who Roger does not recognize at first "without the handcuffs."

   The dialogue in "Rent" is some of the smartest writing you will see in a movie this year. Most of the lines are taken directly from the play. The pace of the movie never slows down and you are constantly waiting to see what troubles the characters must endure next.

   There is no question that "Rent" will have a bigger fan base with females than with males, it is a Broadway musical. Luckily, there is a unisex quality about the film, with enough sex and comedy to keep most guys interested at the least, if not entertained.

  Grade: A

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