A One Mann’s Movies review of “tick, tick… BOOM!” (2021).
Bob the Movie Man Rating:
“Tick, tick, BOOM!” has been out of Netflix for weeks now, and I’ve kept thinking….. “nah”. But, boy oh boy, is this an excellent and engrossing movie. A dark horse for an Oscar best picture perhaps?
Plot Summary:
Telling the real-life story of the composer of the hit musical “Rent”, Andrew Garfield plays struggling New York musician Jonathan Larson, on the cusp of his 30th birthday, who’s spent 8 years developing his dystopian sci-fi musical “SUPERBIA”. With a vital workshop approaching and bills, girlfriend issues and the impact of Aids mounting, Jon has to push through with composing the missing, and vital, second act song. But he has a nasty case of writer’s block.
Certification:
Talent:
Starring: Andrew Garfield, Alexandra Shipp, Robin de Jesus, Vanessa Hudgens, Bradley Whitford.
Directed by: Lin-Manuel Miranda.
Written by: Steven Levenson (based on the musical by Jonathan Larson).
“tick, tick… BOOM!” Review:
Positives:
- This is truly adept film-making by Lin-Manuel Miranda in his directorial debut. Is there nothing this genius can’t do? The film starts as a straight presentation of Larson’s “rock monologue” musical of the same name – a style that was truly novel at the time. But then we dive off into live action reminiscences that constantly wrong-foot you as a viewer.
- Andrew Garfield is stunning in this. And boy, the guy can sing, despite never having a previous musical movie on his resumé. This was a true leap of faith by Miranda. As he comments here “I took him (Garfield) to the “not-good” Sushi place (as he reminds me) in Mid-Town. There, I asked him if he could sing and he said ‘when are you making the movie?’. I said, not for at least a year, so he replied ‘okay I can sing.’ He expressed wanting to explore that thing that was untapped within him. I knew what I’d seen on that stage and knew that this was a man that could go wherever he needed to go.” It was a great decision. As well as great singing, Garfield is genuinely charismatic. In some numbers (“Therapy” being a fabulously quirky example) you can’t take your eyes off him. An Oscar nomination perhaps for Garfield?
- Without giving anything away, Larson’s story is truly touching. It’s worth not knowing much about it before watching.
- “The West Wing”‘s Bradley Whitford delivers a spot-on impersonation of Stephen Sondheim. It’s actually touching that it’s Sondheim’s actual voice on the voicemail at the end of the film (see here): which was released in the same month as Sondheim’s death .
Negatives:
- I have nothing here. The film is practically perfect. But you will only really like this one if you are a fan of “non-standard” musical theatre.
Summary Thoughts on “tick, tick… BOOM!”
This was a genuine surprise of a movie for me. I thought it was moving, delightful, engaging, well-made and had great tunes. Highly recommended. You can find it on Netflix.
Trailer for “tick, tick… BOOM!”
The trailer is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJserno8tyU .
