If you honestly cannot stand to watch a musical film, then you probably won’t appreciate Tick, Tick… Boom enough. But if you can get past that, it’s worth your time. And if you’re a theatre fan like some of us, then you should 100% enjoy the surreal reality this movie offers. However, what really pulls us into its story is the fixation on time and age.
This film‘s multiple musical numbers are far more relatable than you might think. But they also offer a dreamy, fantasy element too. Theatre is supposed to transport us, maybe not necessarily to another place but toward a different perspective, at least. And putting this simple musical onto a screen does exactly what its acclaimed director Lin Manuel Miranda wants it to.
The back-and-forth between Andrew Garfield's Jonathan Larson's original play to the movie's reenactments of his life experiences can confuse the audience if they're not giving their full and undivided attention. However, that's precisely what happens if you don't do your best to follow a piece of theatre. You really can't get out of your seat during a play without returning to be utterly confused. Imagine leaving during Hamilton's ”Helpless“ number and coming back during “Satisfied?” Five minutes can turn out to be a long time.
So for Tick, Tick...Boom, you have to stay with it. Even if you're totally new to the theatre scene, that's okay—Miranda didn't bring this to the big screen expecting every single person to know who Larson was. But rather than being a simple biopic, it transforms Larson's reality into this theatrical narrative.
Take the Sunday morning scene at the Moondance Diner, for example. It starts with Larson dealing with a short-staffed day, being that a friend is in the hospital from HIV. (Remember, the '90s weren't clear on how to treat this at the time) The diner fills up quickly, with people even calling to make a reservation...at a diner. Welcome to the aloofness that will always be the American public.
The scene then swiftly transitions into Larson's musical number, aptly titled "Sunday." The callous, crude customers degrading Larson suddenly start singing alongside him. The whole diner soon becomes its own mini-amphitheater as the soon-to-be 30-year-old playwright leads the song. It's scenes like this that pull the viewer onto a ride they just weren't expecting. The way in which the movie fluctuates between Larson's daily basis to his imagination easily grips the audience.
And now for the real award-winning aspect of Tick, Tick...Boom—the concept of time. It opens with Larson singing his song "30/90," explaining why turning 30 is an anxiety attack in itself. He describes the upcoming transition as frightening through a witty and upbeat tune. However, this obsession with time remains at the same intensity throughout the whole film, or as actors are instructed to remember, "The stakes are high."
It's strenuous to watch as Larson constantly runs out of time with everything, all in the midst of running out of days, minutes, and seconds to write the last necessary song for his play, Superbia. He runs out of time with his girlfriend; He might be running out of time with his lifelong friend, Michael; He even runs out of time with paying the electric bill. And unfortunately, the film ends with his fate, which defines what it really means to "run out of time"—Larson died at the young age of 35 from an aneurysm. And he didn't get to bring Superbia to Broadway, even after several years of dedicating blood, sweat, and tears to his piece.
However, life didn't end right there for him. The movie shows what he and all of us have to do once an idea fails (His production didn't "fail," per se, FYI)—keep going. In case you weren't aware, Larson was the mastermind behind the revolutionary musical, Rent, which is lightly patterned throughout Tick, Tick...Boom in the way Larson had to get by as a struggling artist (i.e. He didn't have a guaranteed heating system for a pricey, cold New York apartment).
Although it ends on a somber note, Tick, Tick...Boom and Larsons' life itself prove how vital time is, but it‘s different for each of us. We don't know how much time we have on earth. And Larson likely did not expect to die at such a young age. But he did more before his death than most people do by the time they're 40. You might not be rich; You might not wind up on Broadway; You might not even get to purchase that pretty penthouse apartment. But you can make everything you do count for something. Each choice, good and bad, doesn't have to define you, such as how Garfield's Larson chooses to fixate on his musical rather than speak to the girl he loves, or to his best friend.
What the film projects is that our choices don't define us. What we do with them can, though.
Overall, Tick, Tick...Boom will captivate you. Whoever you are, Miranda (and Larson) made sure to level with their audiences, knowing not everyone would understand each part the way they "should." It's subjective, like all art. The only objective aspect is that you will feel a pang in your heart when you learn how Larson continued on after his letdown with Superbia. You will feel the pain when he learns his best friend is HIV positive, not knowing how much time he has left now. And you will recognize what it feels like to be praised by an idol (He gets a call from the great, late Stephen Sondheim).
