Finally a screen adaptation of a broadway musical that doesn't look like a broadway show. Great cast, wonderful songs, extremely well written, it makes you feel like you were in New York during this time when so many young people were dying of AIDS. Highly recommended for anyone who likes musicals.

An absolutely stunning movie adaptation of one of the most famous Boradway musicals ever produced. It just took one viewing for this excellent story to become one of favourite movies. The excellent thing is that this features most of the original cast, and the two 'new' members (Rosario Dawson and Tracy Thom) are excellent and slide into their roles effortlessly. Watch this for the ride of your life, you'll become a Rent head too!

183 of 209 people found the following review helpful:
There's Only Yes, November 26, 2005
Reviewer: Kevin Killian (San Francisco, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)
I saw the movie in a beautiful theater in downtown San Francisco on the Saturday after Thanksgiving and was surprised to find so few people in the movie theater--maybe 75 of us, and the theater could have fit 500. I wonder if some of the lukewarm reviews haven't influenced people's decisions to go to RENT. Hope not, for I'm here to tell you, this movie is dynamite and IMHO much, much better than the play. For one thing, in the movie you can hear every word, even with the increased rock instrumentation, for hundreds of sound experts have worked their magic and made sure that even people underwater could hear every single syllable; whereas on stage, it depended from night to night what percentage of the lyrics were going to be coming across the temperamental sound system of the Nederlander (NYC).

I did miss Daphne Rubin-Vega who was incomparably sexy and chilling as Mimi, but I never believed her being in love, and Rosario Dawson looked like she was just 'playing' at being bad and underneath she was ready to fall in love as soon as she saw Roger through the window. Her scenes of addiction are captured in the movie effectively, in a rpaid montage that might disconcert some rentheads but will, I think, be easily understood by those new to the show.

Yes, some of the actors looked older than 20 somethings. But we forget that most of those who died of AIDS in the 1989-90 period were actually in their 30s. What's the big deal? To me, Angel's fate is all the more sad because he seemed to be healthy for so long and then, all of a sudden, well, any more would bring me into spoiler territory.

I loved this movie so much that once I watched it everyday for two weeks. No I'm not crazy, watch this fantastic movie adapted from the musical and you will understand what I mean. It's the story of 8 friends, 4 of whom are HIV positive, and how they make the best of the time they have, 'no day but today'. Featuring most of the original Broadway cast, this DVD deserves a permanent spot on your shelf. Highly recommened.