Prior to watching “tick, tick… BOOM!,” I knew very little about its subject, Jonathan Larson. All I knew was that he wrote the Broadway musical “Rent,” which I’ve never seen, and that he was dead.
With his directorial debut, Lin-Manuel Miranda — for the most part — proves he has as much of a voice in film as he does in theatre and music.
The film uses Larson’s rock monologue of the same name as a framing device to tell the “true” stories behind the songs, “including the parts that Jonathan made up.” Era-appropriate, home-video-style footage transitions between the stage performance and the events that inspired it. One of the film’s standout scenes comes near the end when Larson’s creative process is represented in the tiles of a swimming pool.
However, while Andrew Garfield gives a strong performance as a struggling young writer, due to my previous lack of knowledge of the material, I had no idea of knowing if it’s an accurate portrayal of Larson. Also, Miranda unfortunately falls into the trap of biopic clichés by including footage of the real Jonathan Larson during the end credits.
The supporting characters that fill Larson’s world are well-cast, with Robin de Jesús being a particular highlight as Larson’s best friend Michael. That being said, the singing of Vanessa Hudgens (who plays Larson’s friend Karessa) seems to be stuck in the style of the Disney Channel Original Movies that brought her fame 15 years ago. Her voice sticks out, and not in a good way.
The film is also chock-full of brief appearances by Broadway figures who worked with Larson, Miranda and Stephen Sondheim. While I can understand the sentiment in wanting to honor the grand history of American theatre, the cavalcade of cameos pulled me out of the movie as I tried to place each face.
Nowhere is this more evident than in the Sondheim homage “Sunday” and the hip-hop track “Play Game.” “Sunday” is set in the Moondance Diner, where patrons include stars of “Hadestown” and “Hamilton,” and the cook is Miranda himself.
Later in the film, almost out of nowhere, Tariq Trotter, the leader of the hip-hop group The Roots, appears in a music video segment as rapper H.A.W.K. Smooth denouncing the commercialism-induced malaise of the Broadway scene in the 1990s.
Even though most people watching this movie aren’t genius songwriters, “tick, tick… BOOM!” is still a relatable film. What college student hasn’t experienced brain-wracking anguish in the face of an ever-approaching deadline? Who hasn’t felt their youth getting slowly drained from their souls? All of this existentialism is served with a side of catchy tunes.
In addition to telling the story of Jonathan Larson and his all-too-short career, “tick, tick… BOOM!” crafts a love letter to youth, creativity and theatre.
