I Rented a seat

Like I said before my mother, brother, and I went to see Rent Thanksgiving afternoon. I feel a little sorry for the people who work on Thanksgiving afternoon. I hope they get a bonus. Anyway, everyone else went to see Harry Potter, but I had already seen it. My brother hadn’t, but he expected to see it with some friends. I think my mother was just glad to have someone who wanted to see a musical. So we ditched the other crowd and rambled along our own way.

As I have mentioned before, I have a soft spot in my heart for musicals. I’m not exactly sure why. Maybe it’s because I remember watching all those old musicals on TV with my godmother. Maybe it’s that I have always had a love of music. (That’s the reason I can’t have music playing in the background. I always end up giving it too much attention, rather that what I am supposed to be doing.) Anyway, Rent is a musical, so many people will either like it or dismiss it. I fall into the former.

I give musicals a lot of leeway. They are an entity that exists outside the realm of normal movies. Some are made to merely fill time with choreographed song and a little romance, Calamity Jane. Some are merely to entertain with absurdity, Little Shop of Horrors. Some seek to bridge age gaps, The Nightmare Before Christmas. Some seek to give life lessons and change our view of the world, Man of La Mancha. And some wish to tell a story of learning to love, My Fair Lady. Musicals are different from movies. In many ways they are more difficult and in some ways easier. Consequently, I judge them by different standards.

Well Rent wasn’t quite what I expected it to be, but it was a lot closer to what I expected than to what was advertised. Some of the advertisements made it seem like the feel good movie of the year. I’ll tell you right now that it’s got a little too much AIDS, sex, death, and heartache to be advertised like that.

I have to say I liked it. I really enjoyed the movie. There are some darned good singers and dancers in there, and the choreography was pretty energetic through most of the good times. The quality of the songs was a little on again off again, and the songs and stories seemed to fight a little at times. However, fight was an interesting conflict added to the conflict between the characters and life. Like I said, I give musicals a lot of leeway.

I recommend the movie to anyone who likes musicals, but by no means expect to come away happy. You might even need to take some tissues with you. I recommend seeing it at a matinee for all musical lovers, and go to some place with good sound.