Review: tick, tick... BOOM!

Source: tick, tick...BOOM! (2021) - Photo Gallery - IMDb

2021 has definitely been a busy year for Lin-Manuel Miranda; in the cinema world alone at least. Not counting him working on goodness knows how many other projects, there are a whopping 4 films released this year that he's been heavily involved in. 

First was In The Heights, the second was Vivo! The final one, Encanto is coming out any day now (am hoping to see it this weekend); and number three, the one we're talking about today, is the cinema adaptation of tick, tick... BOOM! the autobiographical piece of Jonathan Larson's life. 

Before RENT, there was tick, tick... BOOM! Originally a one-man show performed by Larson himself in the 90s, it was re-worked after his death as a 3-actor piece, premiering off-Broadway in 2001. Since then, it has been performed in fringe theatre across the world - and has now come to the silver screen (as well as Netflix), marking Miranda's directorial debut! 

Miranda has said that Larson was a massive influence on his own work - we likely wouldn't have In The Heights or Hamilton if we didn't have RENT. He has even appeared in tick, tick... Boom! himself at the Kennedy Center alongside Leslie Odom JR (Central Park) and Karen Olivo. 

It was one I had heard of but wasn't very familiar with. And now I am wondering whether I should have been.... But then would have I taken the film as fresh as I did? Who knows. 

Source: tick, tick...BOOM! (2021) - Photo Gallery - IMDb

Composer Jonathan Larson is about to turn 30; he is about to premier the workshop of the musical he has spent the majority of his 20s writing; he works at a diner to pay his bills; tensions are growing between him and both his best friend and his girlfriend; and he is constantly worried he is running out of time... 

(Does that line sound familiar...?)

It is ultimately a film about creating art; how hard it is, how you have to bang down every door to even get your toe in. And ultimately how Larson comes to write about what he knows: interstingly, though not given by Sondheim himself in the film, is a piece of advice HE received from Oscar Hammerstein II: 

"Try writing about what you know"

(And yes Sondheim is a character in this film, having met Larson in real life)

Source: tick, tick...BOOM! (2021) - Photo Gallery - IMDb

The film hosts a bunch of cameos from the Broadway community, in fact it's almost like an eye spy of talent. But the "main cast" still boils down to 3 people, with a couple of exceptions: Jonathan, his best friend Michael, and his girlfriend Susan: the characters in the full musical adaptation. 

Larson was played by Andrew Garfield, and may I say.... he is a revelation! His performance was utterly magnetic, and right up there in the likes of his work in The Social Network. Personally I will be disappointed if he doesn't at least get award nominated for this! 

Supporting him was Robin de Jesús (The Boys in the Band) as Michael and Alexandra Shipp as Susan, along with Joshua Henry and Vanessa Hudgens (RENT Live) playing the equivalent in the performance parts. Allow me to explain. Guessing you've seen the film adaptation of Chicago right? 

Source: tick, tick...BOOM! (2021) - Photo Gallery - IMDb

Well Miranda takes a similar approach to that Oscar-winning adaptation, in that there are segments which are intertwined and go back and forth between the main story, and of Larson performing tick, tick... Boom! along with Rodger and Karessa (played by Henry and Hudgens respectfully). These two characters are paired with a lot of the material that would normally be sung by the actors playing Michael and Susan. 

The best example for me to explain being Therapy, when you have Larson and Shipp arguing in the story, but then Larson and Karessa performing the song on stage simultaneously. 

It was almost the case of the Disney films of the mid-90s, who would have a two voices for the same character (eg: Mulan's spoken voice being played by Ming-Na Wen, and her singing voice by Lea Salonga). 

Speaking of cinematography, what I also really like was the framing of the camera. We sometimes switch from the standard cinema length of the camera, to a square-frame as if it was filmed on a camcorder, particularly in flashback sequences. A reference to not only Larson making  home-movies in his life, as we see at the end, but also to RENT's Mark Cohen, constantly filming. 

Source: tick, tick...BOOM! (2021) - Photo Gallery - IMDb

This leads me on nicely to say there are also many little nods to RENT, Larson's future masterpiece. This may come in cameos from the original cast, to places mentioned in RENT popping up, and also parallels in the story. So RENT-heads, have fun getting all the references. 

In fact, another  really special one is in the performance segments. The tick, tick.. BOOM! performance is filmed on location at the New York Theater Workshop, where RENT had its first performance... 😢

This is my first time really listening to this score, and while the tunes may not be as memorable as RENT's, but there are a couple of earworms, particularly Therapy, the big ballad Come To Your Senses and the emotional finale Louder Than Words. One tune to mention though musically is Sunday, a spoof off Sondheim's Sunday from Sunday in the Park with George. The stress of working in an environment like that, albeit a bar rather than a diner... that hit home. I relate. Like Vivo and Central Park, it is a soundtrack that I wanted to download immediately. I really really hope Encanto is the same....!

If you are not just a fan or RENT, but a fan of musical theatre in general, then you NEED to watch this film. 

Source: tick, tick...BOOM! (2021) - Photo Gallery - IMDb

The care that Lin-Manuel Miranda and his team have done to honour and celebrate Larson's legacy cannot be overstated. It is a love letter not only to Larson, but also to Broadway itself, and how much Larson really did shake the entire genre of musical theatre, and what it could be. 

Bear in mind at the time, Broadway was full of either American classics or the British mega-musicals, rather than the broad range it is today. RENT opened it up for many people who felt they didn't belong or see themselves on the Great White Way - or couldn't afford to get tickets. 

I absolutely adored tick, tick... BOOM! It was in fact on of those films that I stopped writing notes, sat back and just watched. It's definitely up there as a contender for the best film I have seen this year. 

tick, tick... BOOM! is available on Netflix now. But if you are lucky enough to have a cinema close by which is showing it, GO!!! It is more than worth it.