Could it really be that after multiple disappointing musicals this year, the one that finally impressed me was about yet another self-obsessed white guy songwriter in existential crisis hung up on turning thirty? I am so disappointed in myself. However, I've always had a weakness for films about artists and the artistic process, and "tick, tick... BOOM!" is exactly that. It's an adaptation of the semi-autobiographical musical theater piece created by Jonathan Larson a few years before "Rent," detailing his struggles to workshop a new musical in 1990.
I was under the mistaken impression that "tick, tick... BOOM!" was an original musical film written by Lin Manuel Miranda, who makes his directing debut here. Instead, it's absolutely an adaptation of Larson's work, and to Miranda's credit it's a considerably better screen adaptation than either Larson or Miranda's musicals have gotten so far. The direction is nothing spectacular, but it highlights the performances well, understands how to execute some of the trickier conceits, and most importantly it trusts the material. For instance, there's a song number staged at a diner, meant to be a (sadly terribly timely) tribute to Stephen Sondheim's "Sunday in the Park With George." Not only does Lin Manuel Miranda preserve the nerdy referentiality, he leans into it by populating the scene with beloved Broadway stars and playing up the artifice of the production design. This is also one of those artist biopics that keeps dropping little nods to the artist's most famous work, in this case "Rent," suggesting where Larson's influences came from. I usually find this sort of thing very obvious and pandering, but here it's done subtly and you actually have to know Larson's work to catch many of the little references.
A large amount of the credit should go to the cast, especially Andrew Garfield, who plays Jonathan Larson. He sings, he emotes, and he displays enough creative verve and energy to get viewers caught up in his pursuit of Broadway success. Alexandra Shipp plays his girlfriend Susan, and Robin de Jesus plays his best friend Michael, both former creatives who have given up on their Broadway dreams, or are on the verge of doing so. Judith Light plays theatrical agent Rosa, and Bradley Whitford plays Larson's idol, Stephen Sondheim. And a vast array of Broadway talent, young and old, are on hand for cameos and bit parts. The film feels very much like a community effort, and you can feel the affection for Larson and his work in every frame of the film. And of course, since this is a period piece, the musical is also a nostalgic glimpse of the Broadway community that existed in the 1990s, weathering the AIDS crisis and a swiftly changing New York.
It helps a lot that the musical stays very grounded in the real world, aside from a few brief dream sequences like the "Sunday" number. The more theatrical numbers and staging are wisely limited to the framing device, where Larson performs "tick, tick... BOOM!" in its stage format with a few other musicians, acting as narrator and internal monologue for the dramatized version of his life. And it's very much the life of a struggling artist, full of constant juggling of work and relationships, and trying to stretch limited resources. The musical that Larson is working on, titled "Superbia," is a science-fiction satire that I could easily see being gussied up for the screen with flashy special effects and fantastical costuming and sets, but this never happens. Miranda keeps it simple and bare bones, letting the music and the performances stay at the forefront. And it works beautifully.
And finally, to be frank I like the music in "tick, tick... BOOM!" so much more than anything I've heard from stage and screen musicals recently. Yes, the style is old fashioned and earnest, but it works for me. It works so much better than I was expecting. When the inevitable "Hamilton" screen adaptation happens, I think Lin Manuel Miranda has proven that he's the best choice to direct it. At the very least, they should let him take a stab at creating a better film version of "Rent."
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