Cinerant

Rent Surprise

I know I've talked about the Rent trailer already on here, but I think I need to bring it back up. I've read a lot within the last couple of weeks looking expectantly at the film.

It's a risky movie to make. Not because of the director, but because of the material. Rent is an R-rated rock musical. It's not going to skew to the same audience as Chicago. It's going to be an entirely different audience than those who can't wait to see The Producers. Unlike any of those musicals, Rent is almost entirely sung--and it's a rock score.

Additionally, director Christopher Columbus has cast it full of the original cast with Rosario Dawson and Traci Thomas filling in the two non-originals not invited back to this cast. What does that mean? No stars. Taye Diggs hasn't opened a movie by himself and Dawson is nowhere being able to do so. Not because they don't have the talent, but they don't have the wide-spread fan base. Additionally, Diggs' role in the film is pretty small. Benny isn't a major role.

So what does any of this mean? I think it means that the film is a crapshoot--at least on paper. There's no way telling which one of the cast will click and if any of them will go anywhere regarding awards. (If I were betting, I'd put my money on Diggs' wife, Idina Menzel getting the biggest bump from the movie.) And it is going to be a huge marketing challenge.

Except for one thing--the music. The late Jonathan Larson's score is catchy, hummable, and one of the better rock scores ever done. And once you've heard it, you don't really let go of it. Why else was it lampooned in Team America?

My hunch tells me that Rent is going to go over really well. I say that almost solely based on the fact of how giddy the trailer makes me--AND the fact that I've never seen the trailer in the theater without hearing somebody singing along. That's a good sign. Whether the film is any good or not is yet to be seen, but I think Larson's work might still have one more post-Pulitzer, post-Tony trick up its sleeve.

posted by cinegod @ 2:27 PM