In "Rent," aspiring filmmaker Mark (Anthony Rapp, center) joins his fellow societal rebels in a spirited musical ode to "La Vie Boheme."

Gotta sing? Definitely. Gotta dance? Sort of.

Gotta see it?

With "Rent," it depends.

Unlike last year's eye-popping but emotionally inert "Phantom of the Opera," this year's "Rent" -- based on the Tony-winning (and Pulitzer-winning) Broadway hit -- shows definite signs of life.

Not as much as it had onstage, of course, where author-composer Jonathan Larson's wall-to-wall, rock-meets-Broadway score and melodramatic, seize-the-day storyline seemed so at home.

Or maybe it's just the passage of years. When "Rent" debuted off-Broadway in 1996, it seemed in and of its time -- an edge-of-the-milennium "La Boheme" transported from 19th-century Paris' Latin Quarter to 20th-century New York's gritty Alphabet City, with AIDS taking over from consumption as the ticking-clock scourge of the day.

In bringing "Rent" to the screen, however, director Chris Columbus and screenwriter Stephen Chbosky place it in a late-'80s context that seems almost quaint. (That decision also sets up several glaring anachronistic references, from the 1995 Oklahoma City bombings to 1991's "Thelma and Louise.")

The movie kicks off gloriously, with the big-voiced ensemble (most from the original Broadway cast) assembled in a deserted theater, delivering a stirring version of the show's second-act anthem, "Seasons of Love." Sure, it's totally out of context and lacks the emotional connection it has onstage, when we've had a chance to get to know the characters singing their hearts out. But it's still a killer number.

Rather than maintain that inherent theatricality, however, Columbus immediately shifts the action to the mean streets of Alphabet City -- and jettisons Larson's sung-through musical approach, replacing it with Chbosky's patchwork narrative structure and thuddingly on-the-nose dialogue.

"Rent" centers on a group of impoverished bohemians -- singers, filmmakers, dancers -- struggling to break through, maintain their artistic integrity and survive the blights of life, from drugs to AIDS.

Wannabe filmmaker Mark (endearingly earnest Anthony Rapp) trains his camera on the gritty scene and its denizens, including roommate Roger (Adam Pascal, ably embodying the tortured artist), a rock singer entranced by the exotic dancer downstairs, Mimi (sultry Rosario Dawson, one of two "Rent" newcomers in the starring cast). Philosophy professor Tom Collins (soulful Jesse L. Martin, a long way from TV's "Law & Order") finds a soulmate in the aptly named Angel (Wilson Jermaine Heredia), a street-drumming, heart-of-gold drag queen. Mark's ex-girlfriend, performance artist Maureen (dynamic Idina Menzel), turns up in his viewfinder -- even though she's dumped him for lawyer Joanne (powerhouse Tracie Thoms, another newcomer to the cast).

Separately and together, these outcasts take on a former bohemian (Taye Diggs) corrupted by yuppie greed -- which sets up "Rent's" title rent battle, a conflict that fades in the face of personal upheavals.

That in turn undercuts the movie's narrative urgency, reducing the overall impact of "Rent's" us-against-the-world spirit.

All of which leaves us with the music.

Musical producer and arranger Rob Cavallo brings an even stronger rock foundation to the numbers, pumping up the volume -- and their sonic power.

But Columbus doesn't demonstrate equal expertise when it comes to staging routines. Desperate to "open up" what had so much concentrated impact onstage, Columbus often resorts to distracting (and, in some cases, illogical) settings that detract from the stories the songs tell. The lone exception: Mark's "Tango Maureen," a cynical salute to his maddening ex that switches to an extravagant fantasy mode with fanciful, if incongruous, results.

Fortunately, "Rent's" mostly veteran cast knows how to sell the musical numbers -- and sell them they do. Some of them (Heredia, Menzel) can't always overcome Columbus' sometimes misguided staging. Others -- especially Martin -- find a way to bypass the obstacles and get to the heart of the matter.

And heart, after all, is what "Rent" has always been about. For all this movie's bumbling and stumbling, it still is.