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One-play glory: That’s what Rent is to the legacy of Jonathan Larson, who, after years of struggle, fulfilled his grandiose dream of changing the face of American musical theater with this Pulitzer- and Tony Award-winning rock-ish opera inspired by Puccini’s La Bohème. Tragically, Larson died of an aneurysm before his zeitgeist masterwork opened on Broadway and established itself as the Hair of the 1990s, attracting the MTV/AZT generation to the theater. Like Phantom of the Opera, Rent enjoys a passionately devoted following, one that eagerly anticipated this film treatment. One significant difference from the Phantom film, though, is that Rent comes to the screen with much of its core ensemble intact. Set in 1989, the musical celebrates a year in the life of a circle of friends, struggling and starving artists living a bohemian existence in New York’s East Village. They include: Mark (Anthony Rapp), a filmmaker newly dedicated to vérité; musician Roger (Adam Pascal), his roommate, a recovering addict seeking that “one-song glory” to leave behind; and Benny (Taye Diggs), who marries the landlord's daughter and then breaks his promise of providing free residence to his former roommates. Also here are Tom (Jesse L. Martin), a philosophy professor who is nursed back to health after a mugging by sweet transvestite Angel (Wilson Jermaine Heredia); Mimi (cast newcomer Rosario Dawson), Roger’s downstairs neighbor, a drug-addicted dancer at the Cat Scratch Club; drama queen Maureen (Idina Menzel) and lawyer Joanne (another newcomer, Tracie Thoms), for whom Maureen left Mark. The depressing milieu and the shadow of AIDS cannot extinguish Larson’s message of optimism and hope. Rent-heads will definitely want to own this two-disc set. Among its special features is a moving, nearly hour-long documentary, “No Day but Today,” which chronicles Larson’s life and the creation of Rent, and tells how the play was nurtured for the screen under the direction of an initially curious choice, Chris Columbus, best known for Home Alone and the first two Harry Potter films. Donald Liebenson

All Movie Guide

This film adaptation of the Broadway musical based loosely on Puccini's opera La Bohème features many members of the original cast. It follows a year in the lives of seven friends living the disappearing Bohemian lifestyle in New York's East Village. AIDS and both its physical and emotional complications pervade the lives of Roger (Adam Pascal), Mimi (Rosario Dawson), Tom (Jesse L. Martin), and Angel (Wilson Jermaine Heredia); Maureen (Idina Menzel) deals with her chronic infidelity through performance art; her partner, Joanne (Tracie Thoms), wonders if their relationship is worth the trouble; Benjamin (Taye Diggs) has sold out his Bohemian ideals in exchange for a hefty income and is on the outs with his former friends; and Mark (Anthony Rapp), an aspiring filmmaker, feels like an outsider to life in general, always behind the camera recording the events but never playing a part. Cammila Albertson

Product Details

• UPC: 043396179981
• Source: SONY PICTURES
• Region Code: 1
• Presentation: Wide Screen
• Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
• Language: English, Français
• Subtitles: English, Français
• Time: 2:15:00
• Sales Rank: 27,147

This DVD is also available as part of a box set:

• Rent / Tommy
• Rent / Tommy
• Rent / Godspell
• Rent / Godspell

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