Anger and review of Rent (spoilers alert)

Ira furor brevis est - Horace
Anger is a brief insanity

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Or not.

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I caught Rent last weekend. And from the point of view of a person who's never watched the musical, I enjoyed the movie. I thought the whole Mimi storyline towards the end was a little too rushed, and in theatre theory, it would be moving if you can suspend your belief. Rosario Dawson looks awesome in this movie, a great change from her in Alexander where she looked like complete crap.

I totally loved the Angel and Tom Collins storyline. Especially when Tom sang "I'll Cover You" at the funeral. I bawled like a baby I swear. I can't honestly think of a movie I cried more at. The lapels of my jacket were wet.

I'll be your shelter
Just pay me back with one thousand kisses

I also loved the relationship between Maureen and Joanne. How they were rent (haha! rent!) apart by Joanne's inability to accept Maureen's ways, and Maureen's inability to change or to even see the need to change. Although I think the casting of Maureen could be better. I was expecting someone more traditionally attractive, I can see why they picked her, but it took time to see it.

The movie was set in the 1990s, depicting a group of friends as they lived and learned. I thought it was awesome because it doesn't shy away from the reality of struggling actors/musicians/etc. It has HIV, AIDS, drag queens, gays and lesbians, a 19 year old girl pole dancing to keep up with her drug habits, a ex-band frontman having just kicked the habit and falling in love with that girl who's still using, a budding director who sells out to pay the Rent, an ex-friend who sold out for riches, a lawyer in love with a woman who can't love her the way she wants, an actress who flirts and flirts and even at her engagement party, a drag queen who's brave and proud and giving, a positive man who got himself kicked out of MIT for his unconformity in ideas. With such an ensemble cast, and such potential in developing the characters, how can a person miss this show?

You rarely see shows like that anymore, shows which dedicate to character development.

Though I loved Brokeback Mountain, the focus was on requited yet doomed love. About abolishing stereotypes, about showing to people that love is love. And love is never wrong. Rent is really about the characters and how the span of a year can change them so much. It shows that love isn't all pretty candy canes and stuff that you see in Just Married or equivalent, it's more than that. It also shows passion for their art, and how sometimes you have to sacrifice even that. Watch a quality movie, don't go for mindless comedies or ghastly horrors, watch Rent.