Tick, Tick, Boom!
NetflixEyebrows raised, tears in the eyes after seeing Lin Manuel Miranda appear next to the words “directed by,” and Tick, Tick, Boom! has its work cut out for it. Enter stage Andrew Garfield, whose leading role as Jonathan Larson sees the actor take on the aspirations of a composer. Promise in arts is as frequent as the films that look to cover it, but only a few have truly captured the gold standard so few have in this business. The Forty-Year-Old Version was one, and this is another. Tick, Tick, Boom! hits all the right notes, and it is those groan-inducing credits that flash up at the beginning that are the spirited, surprising positives to this music-history blast.
All the notes of a vibrant achiever hoping for more are touched upon. The hard-luck life working a minimum wage diner job, dedicating every free, waking second to the art that inspires him. He hopes to inspire others with that art. So many wish to do so and because of that, it makes Tick, Tick, Boom! an interesting piece. Hard it may be to separate this from all the other New York-based features that show a writer or artist crying out for some shot at success. So many deserve it, so few get it. Where The Forty-Year-Old Version tackled ageism and joining into a new age of music, Tick, Tick, Boom! is concerned with those that find themselves in the right place at the right time. That confident boost towards happenstance encounters.
“I am the future of musical theatre,” Larson (Garfield) boasts. Self-confidence is an important tool of the rising artist in film. But those highs are displayed next to the doubts and consequences of knockback. Every creative heart, even those with just a flicker, will find some love for Tick, Tick, Boom! It does not matter if they have made it or not, there is something for everyone in here. Perhaps that is what limits Miranda here, whose usual reliance on musical numbers is not as frequent. If anything, it makes the Netflix original more palatable. The songs are rare treats that tie themselves around the story, instead of suffocating them. Still, it is likely because the budget does not stretch far enough for big musical blowouts. This is not Singin’ in the Rain. It does not have that colour, that imagination, to focus it. This is Whiplash for the theatre generation.
Tick, Tick, Boom! has a soundtrack with heart and a singer who knows how to manage it. A rare sighting for the musical genre these days. Garfield has some great pipes on him, and he should show that side to him off far more often than he does. Miranda is the man behind the camera steering him in the right direction. His lacklustre production In the Heights makes for a night and day difference when experiencing Tick, Tick, Boom! a feature that relies on the typical styles of a concert feature as much as it does the dramatic talents of its leading man. “A musical for the MTV generation,” and that much is true. Whatever it means, it is true. Miranda knocks it out of the park by toning down his style, plastering Garfield on the front of it and getting creative behind the camera rather than in front of it.