RENT!

“No other course, no other way, no day but today”. Embracing each and every day is a major theme in the film made off of Jonathan Larson’s rock opera Broadway hit, Rent in the year 2005. The movie takes place in the East Villiage of New York City. The plot unfolds through its catchy, upbeat songs. This musical has always been controversial in its themes and views because there are two homosexual couples and some drug use. But the movie is so much more then that. Many viewers are turned away by this, but they never see what the film is truly about. It is a story of great friendship, living with regret, loss and love. The film truly makes you fall in love with each of the characters.
Mark (Anthony Rapp) is a lonely film maker trying to get a big break. His ex-girlfriend, Maureen (Idina Menzel), who has a passion for the stage found happiness in the arms of an attorney named Joanne (Tracie Thoms). Roger (Adam Pascal), is a burned out rock star who we later find out has gotten AIDS from his deceased girlfriend. Romance begins between Roger and his neighbor Mimi (Rosario Dawson) when she reveals to him that she also has the disease. When Collins (Jesse L Martin) returns to the big city he finds the love of his life, a drag queen named Angel (Wilson Jermaine Heredia).
With such a colorful, diverse group of friends the movie is already off to an interesting start. While the first half of the movie is more positive, fun and funky, while the second half dramatically shifts tone. It becomes about living with mistakes from the past, great heartache and pain.
This film is so supposed to mirror life in the eighties in America. It is still relevant in the year 2009 because we still have the same problems. People still die every day of AIDS. They are forced to conform to society’s expectations. People still live in poverty, and they still are forced to life with regrets. Rent is about embracing each day and living in love. The characters have to learn to, “Forget regrets or life is yours to miss”