https://www.austinchronicle.com/events/film/2021-11-19/tick-tick-boom/

tick, tick… Boom!

Rated PG-13, 115 min. Directed by Lin-Manuel Miranda. Starring Andrew Garfield, Alexandra Shipp, Robin de Jesús, Joshua Henry, Mj Rodriguez, Bradley Whitford.

REVIEWED By Sarah Jane, Fri., Nov. 19, 2021

Oh, Andrew Garfield. That saucy devil. He’s done it again. He continuously proves how terrific of an actor he is with each successive film. From Never Let Me Go and The Social Network to Under the Silver Lake and The Eyes of Tammy Faye. Now comes the musical tick, tick… Boom! and that boy is an absolute star.

I admit, I was never really into musicals growing up. I wasn’t a theatre kid. I was into movies, of course, but even then, I didn’t really watch many musicals. West Side Story, and Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory were about as far as I got. Life is strange sometimes and I ended up marrying a man who loves musicals. Bless his heart, over the years, he’s got me to watch musicals. And guess what? I actually enjoy them.

tick, tick… Boom! is a biographical musical based on an autobiographical one-man stage show by Rent writer Jonathan Larson about a guy named Jon (Garfield) who writes, yes, musicals. Jon is dealing with several things at once; he’s trying to write one song ("glory!") for his musical, Superbia, which is about to be workshopped. He’s having girl trouble. He’s got best friend trouble. The pressure is mounting.

See, it’s the tick, ti- you get it.

Lin-Manuel Miranda, yes that Lin-Manuel Miranda in his directorial debut, turns the theatre show into an uncomplicated, pretty by-the-book biopic. Larson performs the musical on a stage with a band as extensive flashback sequences fill out the story. If you think you’re only getting songs during the stage portion of the movie, you would be wrong. Larson and friends break out in song several times throughout. Miranda only goes full on fantasy “Hollywood Musical” set piece on one of the songs and, boy, does he ever.

The film is a bit untidy, but it doesn’t matter because Garfield’s performance is just so amazing. Were you aware he could sing? That man can sing. He can dance, too! As Larson, Garfield runs a gamut of emotions, and I bought every last one of them. I gave the film an extra half star just because of his performance. I’d be surprised if Garfield isn’t nominated for one of those gold statues Hollywood likes to hand out in winter. He’s that good. Co-stars Vanessa Hudgens and Robin de Jesús are also excellent (and a shout out to Bradley Whitford as Stephen Sondheim). It’s an absolute cliche, but I did laugh and I did cry throughout the film.

I’m not sure tick, tick… Boom! is for everyone. People who like Rent/Larson and musical fans in general will love it. Not sure what the appeal is for people beyond those factors but here’s hoping Netflix viewers will click on it out of curiosity. Miranda has made a fine debut and, like Larson and so many other writers have been told, I can’t wait to see what he does next.

Available on Netflix now.