Rent

Musicals are not often my preferred form of entertainment. The worst are contrived, people just bursting into song with wide and silly smiles on their faces.
And bits of Rent are contrived, but Jonathan Larson put so much heart and soul into the songs you can't help but get caught up in the whole experience.
Years ago, I saw the stage production, and I had my doubts that Chris Columbus of "Home Alone" fame could do the film justice.
But with six of the original cast members, the film works, even if the actors are too old to be playing 20-something artists struggling with poverty and AIDS in the East Village.
The movie, as the play, is set in 1989, where being gay and dying of AIDS were shocking. In 2005, AIDS isn't shocking anymore; it is depressingly routine. And in a culture where we have Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, homosexuality is not as taboo as it once was.
What makes Rent soar is sheer exuberance, a fervor for life that's damn near infectious.
In the midst of what's typically downer material is an urgent and bold declaration of carpe diem. No wonder Rent has garnered such cult status.
It celebrates youthful idealism, love of friends and the pursuit of dreams against harsh reality.
Who wouldn't love that?