KYMM'S 365 DAY MOVIE CHALLENGE #45: Tick, Tick... Boom! (2021, dir by Lin-Manuel Miranda, USA)

I remember years ago, when I lived in New York, there were posters all over the theatre district for this show, I would see them daily, but I never knew a single thing about the show, to me it was a title only. Not anymore.

tick, tick…BOOM is the story of Jonathan Larson, author of Rent. It’s an autobiographical musical about a young musical theatre writer and composer, about to turn 30, terrified that he hasn’t made it yet and never will.

From my perspective, on the other side of 50, this is ridiculous, 30 is nothing, why should I care about this kid’s perspective? Because it turned out he was right, he didn’t have the luxury of time. As most people know, Jonathan Larson died unexpectedly at the age of 35 the day before Rent’s first public performance. So he never knew that he would have the success he dreamed of, he never knew that he changed musical theatre forever.

The film weaves in and out of the theatrical performance of tick, tick BOOM, and the real events that Jon is narrating in the story of the days leading up to the first workshop of his musical Supurbia, and his 30th birthday.

The cast is great, Alexandra Shipp as Jon’s girlfriend Susan, the great Robin de Jesus from Camp as his best friend Michael, Joshua Henry, (whom I saw kill it as Burr in the touring production of Hamilton in 2017), and Vanessa Hudgens, play both friends and musical performers in the musical within a musical, the great Judith Light plays Jon’s distracted agent, and Bradley Whitfield is perfect as Stephen Sondheim.

Who have I not mentioned? Andrew Garfield as Jon. Is it because he wasn’t any good? O no, it’s because he was spectacular. He needs his own paragraph.

I heard a an interview with Andrew Garfield last week on the Kermode and Mayo podcast, and he said that when he met with Lin-Manuel Miranda to talk about the role, Lin asked him if he could sing. Andrew answered, “When does it start shooting?“ Lin answered, “In a year,“ and Andrew replied, “Then I can sing!“ Apparently, he spent that whole year learning how to sing, dance, and play the piano, and you would never know it. It seems like he’s been singing, dancing, and playing the piano his entire life, it’s all so lived-in. I mean, he’s no Joshua Henry, but he doesn’t have to be. He’s a songwriter singing his own songs, not a Tony Award nominee for playing Billy Bigelow in Carousel.

Singing, dancing, and playing the piano aside, Garfield’s performance was everything. He’s in almost every shot, if that performance didn’t work, then all the Judith Lights and Bradley Whitfords in the world couldn’t have saved this movie. But it not only worked, it was glorious. We see his flaws, he’s not perfect, but we also see his potential and possible future, that he is both right to be so desperate for his music to be heard by a public who wants to heard it, but also that he’s kind of a jackass at times to people who love him.

If you didn’t already regret the musicals that Jonathan Larson never wrote due to his untimely death, you will after seeing this movie. The songs in both the musical of the title and also Supurbia are so strong, the tragedy is almost unbearable.

But I want to make clear, one million paragraphs in, that this is not a movie about despair and loss, it’s a movie about joy and creativity. It’s funny! It’s about love and friendship and life. And the brunch scene in the diner, I will not spoil it for anybody, is worth the price of admission. And since the price of admission for most of you will be $0 as you’ll be seeing it on Netflix, it’s worth far more.

Our Lin, making his film directorial debut, has a strong point of view and style, and a steady hand, and never distracts from the story he’s telling with a misplaced flourish. Also, he knows a lot of great Broadway actors who he can get to be in his movie!

This year has had a lot of great films beyond the big blockbusters, Nine Days, The Sparks Brothers, Annette, In the Heights, Summer of Soul, and tick, tick…BOOM absolutely takes its place among them. What a wonderful movie.

Kymm Zuckert is an actor/writer/native Angelino. When Kymm was a child, her parents would take her to see anything, which means that sometimes she will see a film today and say, “I saw that when I was eight, I don’t remember any of that inappropriate sex stuff!” Check out her entire 365 day blog @ https://365filmsin365days.movie.blog