i have seen and loved them both. the thing is ive loved the music of rent since i was a wee little (i think freshman year of high school?) and to me that is the main part of the whole shebang. the broadway show was definitely exciting and there was more energy, but thats expected. i also spent a good deal of time laughing at scary spice as mimi, but thats besides the point. the thing about the movie that i liked a lot was that it explained more than the play did. i thought on broadway it moved pretty quick and i missed certain parts. diehard rentheads know everything and prob were a bit disappointed with the movie. its just like harry potter in that sense. things are going to be missing and the story might be slightly altered but overall it was entertaining. when i left harry potter at first i knew i liked it but i was just like wtf how could they leave out this and that... when i left rent i was hysterically crying and thinking wow they did a good adaptation while other rentheads were bitching about how they were so angry about this and that.

i think that you should definitely see the movie though. yes it was a little bit hollywood/heteroified, but overall it was good.

hope that helps!

* jenn *