‘Tick, Tick… Boom!’ Review: How do you Measure a Year?
Andrew Garfield in Lin-Manuel Miranda’s “Tick, Tick…Boom!”(2021)
How do you measure a year? In daylights, in sunsets, in midnights, in cups of coffee? Much like the title suggests, time stands out as a peculiar obsession of Jonathon Larson in this new biopic of his life, “Tick, Tick…Boom!”. Lin-Manuel Miranda’s directorial debut gets off to a dizzying start, pushing us enthusiastically into the chaotic life and mind of Larson. You’ll need some time to rest after this whirlwind of a performance, however, if you like ritzy Showtunes and dazzling performances then you’ll be sure to enjoy “Tick, Tick…Boom!”.
In reality the show ‘Tick, tick… Boom!’ never really took off, so if you were to recognise Larson’s name it is probably down to his better known, third and final production, the hit, 11-year-running Broadway musical “Rent”. Sadly, the artist didn’t live to see the success of his creations. He died at age 35 of an aortic aneurysm the day before the first preview of his hit musical “Rent”. Lin-Manuel Miranda, saw “Rent” on his 17th birthday and quoted it as a ‘transformational experience’, showing him another, side of musical theatre without all the glitz and glam, instead tinged with reality and human existence. Fast forward a couple of years, Miranda would begin to start creating his Tony Award-winning ‘In the Heights”, set in his own New York neighbourhood.
“Tick, Tick...Boom!”, what was essentially a one-man-stand-up performance, has been given the ‘Hamilton’ polish and shine and turned into a meta-show-biopic hybrid, jam-packed with appearances from Broadway's best-loved faces. It’s essentially a ‘Where’s Wally’ of the theatrical elite (minus the difficulty because they’re literally in every scene). Andrew Garfield embodies the limitless energy and passion of Larson, as he faces existentialist doubts in the week leading up to his 30th birthday. Larson, a struggling composer, and playwright is trying to prepare for a workshop presentation debuting his overly zealous sci-fi production ‘Superbia’.
The expositionary shots of the film conform to the essence of most biopics but with that added theatrical flair. A miniaturised screen of 4:3 aspect ratio shows a series of stylised shots not dissimilar to an old cinecamera, archival footage introduces us to Larson as he sits onstage performing “Tick, Tick…Boom!”. Miranda merges the two forms of Musical theatre and cinematic production by using traditional conventions of theatre. Staged lighting, spoken thought, the fourth wall and even placed props are used to imitate a theatrical production, acting as Homage to Larson’s, short but sweet career.
Larson faces a perpetual battle throughout the film, with both his conscience and his friends around him. Are his passions worth destroying your life over? The concept of a ‘sell-out’ is well-known in the creative industry, which Garfield’s Larson is all too familiar with. His best friend Michael (Robin de Jesus) is regularly mocked for selling out to advertisement instead of continuing his career as a second-rate actor. Lines from the number ‘Sunday Brunch’ such as “ambition eats right through you” and “how can you soar when you’re nailed to the floor” expose more instances of this toxic creative mentality, in which artists believe it worthwhile to die trying to make it in the industry they love.
Of course, singing is a noticeable constant throughout this film, as we follow Garfield through Larson’s day-to-day life. Yet, something else that sticks out in this film is the perpetual ticking noise non-diegetically overlayed in the film.
The film slowly increases in intensity as time is running out for Larson to finish the last song for ‘Superbia’. Ever troubled by time, we can feel a sense of dread the closer both his workshop presentation and 30th birthday reach closer, rather quickly he lets aspects of his life fall apart around him. His Girlfriend Susan (Alexandra Shipp) has grown impatient over his lack of emotional empathy, his best friend Michael feels ignored, and the bills go unpaid. Miranda’s close portrayal of this all-consuming creative process both romanticises and villainises Larson’s behaviour as he is at the same time rewarded and punished.
On stage, Larson’s writing weakly addresses, albeit briefly, some real problems – primarily homophobia and the AIDS epidemic. But this Miranda’s decision to stick to an aesthetic of realism highlights this weakness even more. Michael’s status as HIV positive is almost completely brushed over and at first selfishly ignored by Larson. One can forgive not wanting to majorly change Larson’s original writing, however, in today’s political climate we should have more awareness and tact to be able to decently cover a topic that couldn’t be tackled properly in the 90s.
At times Tick, Tick… Boom! might have benefited from slowing down a little. Scenes often progress into the next without any clear indication as to why and how. Some plots such as Larson’s friend Freddy (Ben Levi Ross) get omitted altogether and we should be deemed satisfied by a single sentence uttering that ‘Freddy is fine. This is a film about taking the time to appreciate what you have, yet as the credits roll you are left with a sense of haste and dizzying confusion.