Why is it that struggling artists who sing, paint, or write about their struggles usually seem to produce the worst art? This adaptation of Jonathan Larson’s Broadway musical is set in the mid 1990s among an enclave of young bohemians in New York City. As these creative dreamers earnestly express how earnest and expressive they are, Rent becomes bad art by default. The spirited original Broadway cast – as well as newcomer Rosario Dawson – keeps things bearable, but director Chris Columbus (the first two Harry Potter films) doesn’t help by remaining anonymous.
