Rent [WS]

Director: Chris Columbus Chris Columbus

Overview

This film adaptation of the Broadway musical based loosely on Puccini's opera +La Boh?me 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.

Product Details

Release Date:	05/15/2007
UPC:	0043396179981
Original Release:	2005
Rating:	PG-13
Source:	SONY PICTURES HOME ENTERTAINMT
Region Code:	1
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround]
Language:	English
Time:	2:15:00
Sales rank:	39,745

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Anthony Rapp	Mark Cohen
Adam Pascal	Roger Davis
Rosario Dawson	Mimi Marquez
Jesse L. Martin	Tom Collins,Actor
Wilson Jermaine Heredia	Angel Schunard
Idina Menzel	Maureen Johnson
Tracie Thoms	Joanne Jefferson
Taye Diggs	Benjamin Coffin III
Sarah Silverman	Alexi Darling
Julia Roth	Rent Tenant
Porscha Radcliffe	Rent Tenant
Stephen Payne	Homeless Squeegee Man
Darryl Chan	Thug
Ken Clark	Thug
David Fine	Homeless Man on Range Rover
Mackenzie Firgens	April
Jason Foster	The Man
Daniel London	Paul
Aaron Lohr	Steve
Wayne Wilcox	Gordon
Bianca Sams	Ali
Heather Barberie	Pam
Liisa Cohen	Sue
Sharon Ferrol-Young	Floor Dancer
Liz Ramos	Floor Dancer
Kristin Medwick	Floor Dancer
Katie Weber	Floor Dancer
Angela McConnell	Floor Dancer
Feleciana Stevenson	Floor Dancer
Kim Williams	Floor Dancer
Anna Smith	Mrs. Jefferson
Darryl Edwards	Mr. Jefferson
Aisha De Haas	Blanket Woman
R.C. Ormond	Thug
Eleanor Columbus	April's Friend
Matthew McCollum	Guy at Bar
Brendan Columbus	Punk in Park
Austin Shea	Punk in Park
Sharon Ferrol	Cat Scratch Floor Dancer
Jamielyn Duggin	Cat Scratch Floor Dancer
Damia Foti	Cat Scratch Waitress
Laura Padierne	Cat Scratch Waitress
Kevin Hagan	Cop
Brian Delate	Cop
Michael Rosales	Subway Punk
Niyuk Hairell	Subway Punk
Larissa Kierman	Subway Punk
Marco De La Cruz	Subway Passenger
Ericka Harden	Subway Passenger
Truc Luong	Subway Passenger
Megan Biolchini	Subway Grad Student
Nick Scoggin	Subway Man
John Champion	Subway Stockbroker
Titus West	Subway Stockbroker
Renda Pettis	Slightly Older Subway Woman
Alison De Oliveira	Subway Businesswoman
Debbie De Coudreaux	Subway Mom
Chris Chalk	Street Vendor Who Sells Coats
Cory Duval	Riot Cop
Clark Devereux	Riot Cop
Coren Rosey	Life Cafe Manager
Shaun Earl	Life Cafe Waiter
Matthew Dickens	Bohemian
Tara Hughes	Bohemian
Troy Christian	Bohemian
Gigi Hunter	Bohemian
Kevin Stea	Bohemian
Robert Prescott Lee	Bohemian
Sebastien Poffet	Bohemian
Linda Cevallos	Bohemian
Roosevelt Fienoury	Bohemian
Mike Garibaldi	Mr Grey
Rod Arrants	Mr Hansen
Jennifer Siebel	Receptionist
Kevin Blackton	Mr Johnson
Bettina Devin	Mrs Johnson
Corinne Blum	Female Bartender at Engagement Party
Annie Barnathan	Candy Striper
David Stewart	Mourner
Marcos Estebez	Mourner
Emily Rahe	Mourner
Vivis Colombetti	Angel's Grandmother
Nicole Cherie Flores	Angel's Sister
James Cotton	Used Car Salesman
James Cranna	Pawn Shop Dealer
Randy Graff	Mrs Cohen
Joel Sweto	Mr Cohen
David Richard Campbell	Conductor
Jonathan Larson	Composer
Jamie Muhoberac	Composer
Doug McKean	Composer
Tim Pierce	Composer

Technical Credits

Stephen Chbosky

Chris Columbus	Director,Producer
Robert De Niro	Producer
Michael Barnathan	Producer
Mark A. Radcliffe	Producer
Jane Rosenthal	Producer
Stephen Chbosky	Screenwriter
Bernard Telsey	Casting
Kevin McCollum	Executive Producer
Jeffrey Seller	Executive Producer
Lata Ryan	Executive Producer
Allan S. Gordon	Executive Producer

Editorial Reviews

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.