OnScreen Review: 'tick, tick...BOOM!'
As I think back to seeing the Broadway and Toronto companies of the 90s musical ‘Rent’, I’ve realized now just how much of seminal productions they were for me upon seeing the extraordinary and compassionate film version of the late Jonathan Larson’s ‘tick, tick…BOOM!’ the other night.
Why?
For some reason, I just had this epiphany where I finally got what ‘Rent’ was all about, and I must thank Lin-Manuel Miranda (in his remarkable feature film directorial debut, and I sure hope he directs more) and Steven Levenson’s smartly adapted screenplay for their strategic vision in using ‘tick, tick…BOOM!’ as a theatrically dramatic film tool of self-realization. And what an original and clever title, this ‘tick, tick…BOOM!’ as it doesn’t just apply to our 30s as it does in this film and in ‘Rent’. Those life crisis moments also hit me in my 40s, 50s, and when I turned 60 too.
I’ve never seen the stage version of Larson’s three-character pop-rock musical about facing crossroads in life and holding on to one’s dream. If the play carries a similar emotional impact as the film does, I’m all in to see it.
A compelling and fascinating story of flesh and blood people, ‘tick, tick…BOOM!’ tells the somewhat biographical tale of Jonathan Larson (Andrew Garfield), a very promising composer, on the eve of this thirtieth birthday. His girlfriend, Susan (Alexandra Shipp) wants to get married to him and move out of New York to pursue her dreams of being a dancer. Jon’s best friend Michael (Robin de Jesús), a former actor who was pretty good at one point, is now an advertising executive and making big bucks on New York’s Madison Avenue and wants Jon to face head-on the next part of life. Jon is still waiting tables and trying the write a great American musical before time and life pass by. We see and hear snippets from this musical throughout.
How many of us have heard that same clock ticking inside our brains, our psyche as we move about our day sometimes slowly, often at 110 mph? And this might sound clichéd and trite, but at the end of it all, how much do we have to show for our work and success, and at what cost did it come?
Andrew Garfield delivers an iconic and electrifying performance as the late Jonathan Larson. Alexandra Shipp and Robin de Jesús match Garfield toe to toe with their distinctly heartfelt, natural, and believable performances all around. There is terrific supporting work as well from Judith Light as Jon’s acerbic and croaky voiced agent, Rosa Stevens, Richard Kind’s hilariously spineless yes man Walter Bloom to Vanessa Hudgen’s sweet, angelic muse of a castmate Karessa Johnson. Bradley Whitford is a dead ringer for composer Stephen Sondheim, and I did a double-take when he first appears.
Gorgeous work by Alice Brooks in cinematography which captures the sometimes gritty, often real ambiance of a New York where dreams of stardom can be quickly snuffed out in one blow of a candle.
Larson’s song lyrics are splendidly and strikingly captured by cast members. At one point, I closed my eyes and just listened and wanted to hear the richness of the voices. There are a few surprises throughout the film that left me speechless and breathless that I don’t want to spoil here as you must experience these moments for yourselves.
The film’s conclusion brought a tear to my eye since Jonathan Larson is not here to experience the well-deserved success he earned. He died unexpectedly of an aortic aneurysm on January 25, 1996, ten days before his thirty-sixth birthday.
Final Comments: This ‘tick, tick…BOOM!’ is worthy of many awards this season. It is not to be missed. A winner!
Still photograph of Alexandra Shipp and Andrew Garfield provided by Netflix.
Rating: 5 stars out of 5.
Limited release November 12 before streaming on Netflix November 19.