The theater goes dark and the picture comes onto the screen. I have been anticipating the release of this movie for a month (so maybe I am a little biased). After all of the trailers, the opening sequence was a well known favorite of mine- Seasons of Love. It was sung on a bare stage with each main character in a spot light. Other reviewers have said that this does not hold the attention of today’s youth. They have also said “The movie is literally a series of showstoppers, unified by the impulse to turn life, at its scruffiest, into theater — into a rhapsody of the everyday… the actors all blended into one another. They were a heartbeat away from the look-at-me ''creative'' brats in Fame.” I disagree.

So this movie doesn’t appeal to every possible viewer. Few movies do. This is an amazing movie with catchy songs. As for having too many songs too close together, all I have to say is that the movie is based on a BROADWAY show and the producers wanted to stay TRUE TO THE ORIGINAL PERFORMANCE.

The characters are memorable and have distinct personalities. All of their lives are intertwined. Mark is a film maker who is struggling to make it. He carries around a hand held camera which he uses to capture the lives of his friends and the rest of East Village. His “apartment”-mates are Roger, a musician/ song writer whose last girlfriend killed her-self because she had AIDS, which he got from her, and Collins, a gay college professor with AIDS who falls for the drag queen Angel, who also has AIDS. Angel is the heart of this movie and makes all of the friends realize how lucky they are to have each other. Mark’s ex-girlfriend is Maureen, a performer who has a lesbian lover named Joanne. Joanne is a big shot lawyer who wants commitment from the flirtatious Maureen. Then, of course, there is the traitor named Benny who was friends with them but married into a rich family and is now trying to evict his friends. Mimi is a love interest of Roger’s who works at The Cat Scratch Club. She also has AIDS. The movie is centered on their on/off relationship.

The movie follows a year in their lives, starting at Christmas and eventually coming back to Christmas the following year. The movie mixes memorable music number with the harsh reality of life. For example, during “La Vie Boheme” you here numerous beepers go off and Mimi says “ATZ break.” This is a movie that I highly recommend; you will be singing RENT songs for the rest of the week.

Running Time: 2 hrs 15 min

Rating: PG-13 for mature thematic material involving drugs, sexuality, and some strong language

To see movie clips go to: http://movies.yahoo.com/shop?d=hv&cf=trailer&id=1808405627&intl=us