Rent is a 2005 American film adaptation of the Broadway musical, which was based on Jonathan Larson’s Pulitzer and Tony Award-winning musical. This musical-based movie details of a couple of Bohemians and their struggles with sexuality, drugs, living under the shadow of AIDS, and of course, paying their rent. It takes place in the East Village area of New York City in the late 1980s. The film, directed by Chris Columbus, had six of the original Broadway cast members reprising their roles.
Plot
The film's plot is largely identical to that of the original Broadway musical, although there are several minor differences between the two resulting from the filmmakers' decision to omit several songs from the original musical and to change some of the spoken dialogue.
After an introduction with the cast singing " Seasons of Love ", the film opens on Christmas Eve, 1989, with apartment tenants (including two friends and roommates, Mark (Anthony Rapp) and Roger (Adam Pascal) expressing their anger at suddenly being asked to pay the rent, which had previously been waived by their friend. Tom Collins (Jesse L. Martin), a former roommate of Mark's and friend to both Mark and Roger, returns from out of town and is attacked by three men and left for dead in an alley (" Rent "). Benjamin Coffin III (Taye Diggs), also known as Benny, the landlord and former roommate of Mark, Roger, and Collins, who has married into a wealthy family, offers to give Mark and Roger free rent again if they can convince Maureen (Idina Menzel) (Mark's ex-girlfriend) to stop her protest. The protest is to take place at Maureen's performance space, which Benny is planning to turn into a cyber-studio (" You'll See "). A street drummer, Angel (Wilson Jermaine Heredia), finds Collins in the alleyway and leads him away to get him cleaned up. Angel also mentions that he will soon be attending a Life Support meeting, telling Collins that he has AIDS, to which Collins simply replies, "Me too."
Mark leaves the apartment to search for Collins. He suggests that Roger come as well so they could go to dinner afterward, but Roger replies sarcastically and stays home. He goes onto the roof and sings of his desire to write one final song before dying of AIDS (" One Song Glory "). In flashbacks, we learn that Roger was a drug addict and see his girlfriend receive her HIV-positive results. Roger returns to the loft, and a woman who lives downstairs, Mimi, enters. She flirts with him, asking for a match to light her candle. (" Light My Candle "). It is revealed that Roger's girlfriend, April, died. Mimi is a heroin addict and an exotic dancer at the Cat Scratch Club. She drops her stash of drugs and Roger tries to hide it from her, but she distracts him and leaves triumphantly with her stash.
The next day, Collins appears at the loft with a bottle of vodka. He, Mark, and Roger mention that he had been away at MIT for the past seven months, but he was forced to leave because of his theory of actual reality. He has a new job at New York University, and Mark guesses that this is why he could afford the vodka. Collins contradicts him, and introduces Angel, who enters the loft wearing a bobbed wig, high-heeled boots, and a Santa dress. She hands Mark and Roger money, and explains that she earned it by drumming until a dog jumped off the twenty-third floor of a building (" Today 4 U ").This dog is later discovered to be that of Benny. Mark gets a call from Maureen and agrees to visit her in order to fix her sound equipment. Angel and Collins invite both boys to the Life Support meeting. Roger stays home, but Mark promises to come once he has fixed Maureen's equipment. Mark goes to the performance space, where he finds Maureen's girlfriend, Joanne. While initially awkward, Joanne and Mark bond as he works on the repairs and they discuss Maureen's cheating habits (" Tango: Maureen ").
Mark enters the Life Support meeting late, causing a small disturbance. He is obviously uncomfortable surrounded by so many AIDS patients, but after a moment he relaxes and asks if he could film parts of the meeting for his documentary. One member, Gordon, expresses his initial distrust of the program but how he has learned to accept it "because reason says should have died three years ago." The group sings of their desire to live every day to the fullest (" Life Support ). That night, the film focuses on Mimi at the club where she works. She is eager to go out, and ends up at the loft, again flirting with Roger (" Out Tonight "). Roger throws her off and rebukes her for using heroin and intruding on him. Mimi tries to persuade him otherwise, using the Life Support slogan "No day but today," but Roger throws her out. While they sing to each other, Collins, Angel, and Mark appear and stand with Mimi. Roger is unshakeable, and Angel comforts Mimi (" Another Day ").
The next morning is another Life Support meeting. There the people begin to question how their lives would continue now that they have the AIDS virus (" Will I? ") During this, Roger joins the group, much to Angel's, Collins', and Mark's joy. On the way back to their apartments, the four friends find a homeless woman being abused by a police officer and they aid her (on film), only for her to reprimand Mark for making a name for himself on film using her life. On a subway train, they talk about leaving New York and going out to Santa Fe and opening a restaurant (" Santa Fe "). After the subway ride, Mark and Roger go off to help Joanne at the lot where a protest Maureen is staging will take place. Walking down the streets, Collins and Angel express their love for each other in song and Angel buys Collins a new coat (" I'll Cover You ").
Maureen's protest happens later the same night (" Over the Moon "). Benny has put the police on standby, which proves to be a mistake on his part. There is a riot, which causes Maureen to get even angrier with him. The same night at the Life Cafe, everyone meets up. Mark reveals that he got the riot on film and sold it to the news and how the show Buzzline wants to put it on their show. Benny tells everyone that he is sorry (with the unmoved Maureen telling him to "go to hell" and another character calling him a 'jerk') and that the reason his wife was not there was that there was a death in the family. It turns out to be his dog, an Akita. Mark and Roger face each other and exclaim "Evita!"--the dog that Angel offed earlier. Benny tells the group that they need to grow up and start being responsible and questions them if they really want to continue living like they are, leading to more-or-less of a riot, with the characters shouting out what inspires them, starting with Mark saying a eulogy for 'dead' Bohemia. Maureen and Joanne disgust Benny and the other men (" La Vie Bohème "). Roger's beeper goes off, signaling his next AZT dose and thus showing Mimi that he has HIV.Mimi reveals that she too has HIV. Roger and Mimi express their love for each other outside the cafe, sharing secrets and fears for the first time (" I Should Tell You "). The two re-enter the cafe and celebrate their newfound relationship as the celebration continues (" La Vie Bohème B ").
The movie continues on New Year's Eve. The group is celebrating, only to return home and find that Benny has padlocked the door. Angel breaks the lock with a garbage can, when they discover that he also took all of their possessions. In order to get some money, Mark takes a job at a mainstream news company, Buzzline. Joanne and Maureen accompany him, and Joanne gets upset when she sees Maureen flirting with a receptionist. On the street, Maureen demands to know what she did wrong. Joanne says that all she wants is commitment. Maureen responds by kneeling and putting one of her rings on Joanne's finger. The next scene is at a fancy club, where Joanne's parents are hosting an engagement party for the two women. Joanne gets angry when Maureen flirts with another women, and the two have an argument. Maureen wants Joanne to loosen up and understand that she's only having fun, while Joanne wants Maureen to follow the rules of relationships that Joanne lives by and stop mocking her for her Type-A personality. The two end the relationship (" Take Me or Leave Me ").
Everyone except Maureen and Joanne return to the loft, where Benny is waiting. He has returned all of their things and offered to let Mark and Roger live in the apartment for free. Seeing it as a publicity stunt, Mark refuses, but Roger is bothered by the fact that Mimi was the one who convinced Benny to forgo the rent. They had previously been in a romantic relationship, and, despite her protests that it was over months ago, he is visibly distrustful. During the next song, " Without You ," we watch as Mimi and Roger struggle with Mimi's withdrawal. Members of Life Support fade, indicating their death, and Collins takes Angel to the hospital, shivering violently on the subway. Roger finds Mimi with her drug dealer, and they break up. Angel dies in Collins' arms at the hospital.
The next scene is Angel's funeral in a large church. Mimi, Mark, and Maureen reflect on special moments they shared with Angel, and Collins sings the song that he and Angel sang together (" I'll Cover You (Reprise) "). After the funeral, Roger and Mimi argue about their past relationship, as do Joanne and Maureen. In their argument, Roger reveals that he has sold his guitar, bought a car, and is planning to leave for Santa Fe (" Goodbye Love
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