Rent

Rated PG-13

~No matter how bad things are you can always sing~

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By Todd Karella
November 23, 2005

The 1996 Broadway smash about a group of struggling misfit artists and their equally unique lifestyle hit the big screen last weekend. Using the original cast with the exception of two additions, Rosario Dawson and Tracie Thoms, the film touches on issues that were much more taboo a decade ago.
   While today it may be more common to see homosexual characters with AIDS, it generally was something not discussed in open conversation and which made the Broadway such a surprising hit.
   Set in New York City, the film is about two struggling artists. Mark (Anthony Rapp) is a journalist working on his own documentary about the trials and tribulations of life on the street. His roommate Roger (Adam Pascal) is a struggling musician just waiting to write that one hit song.
   The two live in a rundown apartment with a large hole in the ceiling. Living in a slum would actually be a better place than where they are currently living. But it’s New York, and where else are you going to live? The one good thing about it is that they aren’t paying any rent.
   Their landlord Benjamin (Taye Diggs) used to be one of their roommates and has been letting them slide on their rent. Unfortunately, his father-in-law actually owns the buildings and decides that it’s time somebody starts collecting the rent and evicting those who aren’t paying.
   While all of this is going on Mark and Roger’s good friend Tom (Jesse Martin) is being beaten and robbed in the alley on his way to

Mark is also chasing his own demons as he learns to deal with the loss of his girlfriend Maureen (Idina Menzel), not to a disease or to another man, but to a woman Joanne (Thoms).
   Yes, it does sound more like a soap opera than a play, but it flows a lot more smoothly when watching it.
   Maureen is a person you’re going to either love or hate, but for some reason people seem to love her. She is loud, obnoxious, insane and completely unfaithful. Her Avant-Garde performance in the middle of the film is jarring and completely pulls you from what up until that point is an enjoyable experience.
   After her performance causes a riot, the group heads off to a small restraint where they run into the slum lord and his men and show their contempt with a musical performance. Okay, it is a musical so there are lots of dance numbers but you’ve just got to wonder how in the world such opposed groups would end up at the same diner. Somebody made a poor decision.
   As the story continues, things get even worse. At Maureen and Joanne’scommitment ceremony, Joanne finds out what Mark already knew abouther. She cannot be faithful and spends the reception flirting with another woman causing the two to break up.
   Angel is slowly losing his battle with AIDS and eventually dies in Tom’s arms.
   Just as Mimi manages to clean up her act and confess to Roger that she is also HIV positive, she does something extremely stupid. She thinks she is helping when she runs into the arms and bed of Benjamin to keep the guys from being evicted but when Roger finds out the truth he sells his guitar, buys a car and leaves for Santa Fe. It is only then does he realize how much he truly loves Mimi.
   Returning home he finds that things really have changed over the last year. Mark is now a gonzo journalist, Maureen and Joanne are still separated, and Mimi has disappeared. Benjamin says that she dropped out of rehab and nobody has seen her since. The group quickly rallies to find their lost companion, and find her freezing out on the street suffering from an overdose.
   With the subject matter that is being dealt with here you would expect a tragic ending. That’s why it’s even a bigger surprise when it has a happy ending.
   While there may be some controversial messages and images, the overall theme is important. It doesn’t matter who you are or what problems you have to overcome. The only thing that matters is love.

their apartment.
This may seem like the worst thing that could happen to him, but as a result he is rescued by Angel (Wilson Heredia), a transvestite who will eventually become a member of the group and Tom’s lover.
Watching the men from her apartment below them is Mimi (Dawson), a stripper from the Cat Scratch Club, who is falling in love with Roger. Even though he is attracted to her, he resists her charms because not only does she have a bad drug habit but because she does not know he became HIV positive from sharing needles with an old girlfriend.