I saw the musical Rent with my mom and sisters while it stopped in Philly on it’s national tour. It remains, to this day, one of my favorite musicals ever. I even have the Playbill somewhere. The story about artists in the Villiage struggling with money, AIDS, and the threat of eviction kept me leaning forward in my seat for both acts. And, as a theatre geek, I was amazed at the staging, the sets, the lighting, the singing and acting, everything. It was all perfect for the script and the story.

So you can imagine my trepidation watching the 2005 film version of the play. I was surprised that they got most of the original Broadway cast back to do the movie. The one exception, and I don’t know why (yet) was the original actress that played Mimi. I was also curious about whether they were going to sing everything, or whether they would remain true to the story.

There’s always that tendency to screw up a good thing. We’ve all seen treasured books and plays get taken to the big screen and get ruined. There are exceptions, of course, like Six Degrees of Separation, West Side Story, or Fiddler on the Roof. In general, though, things don’t always make it to film intact and as vibrant as the staged version.

This film, however, falls into the exception category. Though not as strong as the others I listed above (except perhaps Six Degrees), the musical remains true to the original play and captures the essence of the film. Bringing back nearly the entire original cast helped, of course. Especially since I know those voices for those parts from countless hours listening to the soundtrack. The direction and sets were true to the play with a few minor exceptions. The opening sequence with the fire was a bit too much, and I wondered how Maureen could afford all the TVs and lighting in her protest piece, but beyond those details, the movie was really good.

I also missed the original Mimi. Rosario Dawson is a good actress and a decent singer. Her voice, however, lacked the power and pop of the veteran Broadway actors around her. Her version of Out Tonight just lacked the power and raw power and sexuality of Daphne Rubin-Vega rendition. I think they had to alter the mix of the song to compensate for her voice, which made the whole thing a bit flat. That song is one of the highlights of the movie. I know several people who have it mixes and love to blast it in their cars, singing along. It’s an awesome song. Except in the movie.

Contrast that to Idina Menzel, who plays Maureen. She has clearly had dance training. It shows during Tango Maureen, which, by the way, was a very cool sequence in the film and a good change from the musical.

I’m also embarrased to say that I didn’t realize that Jesse L. Martin and Taye Diggs were both in the original Broadway cast of the film. I told Heidi that I didn’t think Martin did Broadway and probably only got cast because of his TV credentials on Law and Order. Silly me. He’s actually really, really good. It was amazing to see him playing something so different than the city cop he plays on the TV show.

This movie is worth seeing even if you’ve already seen the musical. The changes are mostly welcome and well worth it. If you haven’t seen the musical, then you really ought to see this. You may or may not like it (hey, not everyone likes musicals, even ones that are all rock music), but you’ll walk away with a couple of good conversations and some great music.