By: Andrew Wing

Tick, Tick… Boom! (styled as tick, tick… BOOM!) is a 2021 American biographical musical drama film directed by Lin-Manuel Miranda (best known for creating and starring in the Broadway musicals In the Heights and Hamilton) in his feature directorial debut) from a screenplay by Steven Levenson (won the 2017 Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical for Dear Evan Hansen, see Ted’s review on the 2021 film adaptation), based on the stage musical of the same name by Jonathan Larson. The film stars Andrew Garfield (The Social Network, The Amazing Spider-Man, Hacksaw Ridge) in the lead role as Jonathan Larson, and also features Robin de Jesús (The Boys in the Band), Alexandra Shipp (X-Men franchise, Love, Simon), Joshua Henry (The Scottsboro Boys, Violet), with Judith Light (Before You Know It), and Vanessa Hudgens (High School Musical film series) in supporting roles.

Tick, Tick… Boom! had its world premiere at AFI Fest on November 10, 2021, and began limited theatrical release on November 12, 2021, before streaming on Netflix on November 19, 2021.

THE GOOD

Lin-Manuel Miranda is an extremely talented individual, but when it comes to musicals, he is just on another level. It was bizarre to learn that this was his directorial debut after seeing his prior projects like In the Heights, but I’ll say just to get the ball rolling on this review, Miranda had himself quite the directorial debut. It’s also fitting that his directorial debut is a passion project of his as he views Jonathan Larson as an idol and role model of his. Miranda apparently pushed to be the one to helm this film because he actually played Larson in 2014 during one of the play's runs. Also, Miranda obviously has a similar career to Larson as he himself was once a struggling playwright in NYC trying to make it big. Let me just say, I think Lin-Manuel Miranda did an outstanding job at making a film for musical theater fans. The camera movement and the outlandish musical numbers that have Lin-Manuel’s direction written all over them makes it a very fun and breezy film which is even more impressive because the film deals with a person going through a looming existential crisis.

I was also very pleased with the screenplay from Steven Levenson. For the most part, this film was a window into the life of a struggling artist and I liked that most of this film was very grounded and easy to relate with. A lot of the songs were very diverting and fun and even though the artist himself seems like he might be very pretentious, this play featured songs that were about parts of his life and just his everyday problems and that pulled us into his world as it was extremely relatable. I mean we all know the feeling that the clock is ticking and that time is running out and like you’re operating based on the fear of the ticking clock and the film itself is just an examination of that mindset that was done very nicely thanks to Levenson’s screenplay.

The main thing that got me to check this movie out was Andrew Garfield. I really love him as an actor and I still get annoyed everyday that he didn’t even get an Oscar nomination back at the 83rd Academy Awards for his supporting performance in David Fincher’s 2010 film, The Social Network. It’s also annoying because a lot of people have written him off ever since his portrayal of Spider-Man in the Amazing Spider-Man movies that get criticized a lot. With that said, with his performance in this, I think he might have finally shut the critics up when it comes to him as an actor. His performance in this is very jittery and it feels like he is on cocaine for the entire movie to put it bluntly. He’s playing a very outgoing and charismatic person in Larson that I knew nothing about going into this, but Garfield’s performance told me everything about him that I needed to know. That is extremely impressive considering we’ve never seen Garfield play this kind of character in his past. He nails every second of this movie and he made me really buy into this character. I think he has a very good chance of earning what would be his second nomination (first being Hacksaw Ridge) for Best Actor. Also, his singing was pretty darn good if you ask me.

The supporting cast in this movie was great and they all did a wonderful job of playing their roles perfectly and giving us an idea of what Jonathan’s friends were like during this time in his life. Speaking of the supporting cast, I really have to shout out Robin de Jesus and his performance in this movie. He’s truly phenomenal in this and his character steals a couple scenes as his character holds a lot of weight in the last half of the film after he tests positive for HIV in 1990. I think he is more than deserving of getting nominated for Best Supporting Actor and I think he could do it as that field is still very wide open. Vanessa Hudgens was also really good despite not having much of a character, but it was just great getting to hear her sing because it definitely brought me back to those High School Musical days.

This movie is certainly a musical, so it’s only right that I touch on the music in this film. There were some songs that stood out a lot including the opening number that really hooks you right in. There is also a song in the middle of the film that I won’t spoil the name of that is just awesome as it features some wild facial choreography that is really enjoyable and will put a smile on your face for sure. Also, the editing in all the musical numbers was very well done as it adds to the energetic nature of the film which I liked overall. The movie is also really funny and after digesting it, I could even see it being considered a comedy.

I was not surprised by how amazing the musical sequences were because well, it’s Lin-Manuel Miranda we are dealing with here. But what I didn’t see coming was just how moving this film was. The movie was just a great ode to the life of Jonathan Larson and just the kind of lifestyle that he lived as a struggling musical theater artist. What makes this film stand out apart from other musical films is just the film’s absolute intoxicating energy as it goes over the top to try and please the musical theater crowd and I just loved it. So to anybody who views themselves as someone who’s a fan of musical theater, you are going to freaking love this movie.

THE BAD

First things first, I am a fan of the musical genre of film. I mean 2 of my all-time favorite movies are Singin’ in the Rain and La La Land. With that said, if you aren’t a fan of musicals, there is no point to watching this movie because it is absolutely flooded with musical numbers. And yes, I did enjoy the majority of the musical numbers, but there were a couple numbers that I wasn’t a fan of because I didn’t feel anything for them as they didn’t resonate with me sometimes. As I said earlier, I know absolutely nothing about musical theater, but apparently there were some pretty big cameos of theater legends in this film and I didn’t know that at all which definitely changed my viewing experience compared to those who know more about musical theater, so that bummed me out.

Despite me loving the over the top nature of the film as it is really directed towards pleasing the NYC musical theater crowd, I can totally see why it might annoy some mainstream viewers like myself. I know absolutely nothing about theater and I’d say most people who will check this out are in the same boat, so it might be kind of annoying or off-putting at times just seeing how energetic and smiley the actors are at points during the movie. The movie just lacks subtlety at times, especially in certain songs that I felt would’ve just been better served as plain old dialogue rather than this grandiose musical number.

Lastly, with me being a huge fan of the Oscars, I was really expecting Alexandra Shipp to get some supporting actress buzz from this but that was just not the case. The blame for that could just ultimately fall on the writers not giving her enough screen time, but she just didn’t have enough presence in this film to get nominated which was disappointing as I see her as one of the best up and coming young actresses today.

THE VERDICT

With an outstanding performance from Andrew Garfield as the famous playwright Jonathan Larson that will likely earn him a Best Actor nomination, Tick, Tick… Boom! is an extremely enjoyable film that features some of the most fun and energetic musical numbers you’ll ever see thanks to Lin-Manuel Miranda in his directorial debut.

The movie was emotionally captivating and it had a message that I thought really resonated, but I must say, proceed with caution because if you are not a fan of musicals, this movie is definitely not for you.