I never saw the musical on stage, and my opinion of it was mostly formed by hearing part of "La Vie Boheme" and thinking the lyrics were far too easily self-congratulatory. I enjoyed the movie more than I expected to, mostly because of the music and the actors' presences, though I still winced at some of the lyrics.

"Take Me Or Leave Me" felt like the high point, because for once the show was expressing emotion that wasn't couched in Afterschool Specialish problem-story terms; but maybe that's just my own heartless healthy-affluent-guy nature talking.

There were two teenage girls sitting next to me who seemed to have memorized large chunks of the show. At one point I heard them whispering to each other: "What's AZT?" "I don't know!"