tick, tick …BOOM!

 

      Andrew Garfield in “tick, tick … BOOM!” Photo by Macall Polay/NETFLIX

Jonathan Larson is a name you may not recognize of the man who created the musical hit “Rent” in the early '90s. The rock opera was based on Giacomo Puccini's opera “La Boheme” about starving artists in Paris. Larson moved its setting to lower Manhattan in the age of AIDS, modeling its cast of characters on himself and his friends.

“Rent” opened off-Broadway in a workshop production. It subsequently moved to Broadway where it played for more than a decade. Its awards included a Pulitzer Prize that Jonathan Larson wasn't around to accept.

Netflix's “Tick, tick … BOOM!” explains why not.

(I was going to add a spoiler alert to that information, but since the movie acknowledges Larson's passing in its opening scenes, I'm not giving anything away. “Tick, tick … BOOM!” – adapted from a musical monologue Larson composed – is an in-memoriam tribute as much as anything else.)

Andrew Garfield stars – singing, dancing, playing the piano, agonizing over the creative process – in this musical about a musical within a musical. It's meant to be the knockout of Garfield's one-two punch this Oscar season, following his portrayal of Jim Bakker in “The Eyes of Tammy Faye.”

Adding to “tick, tick …BOOM!'s” awards hopes and pedigree, it's directed by “Hamilton” creator Lin-Manuel Miranda,” who's also got lots of horses in this year's awards chase. Miranda credits the real Jon Larson as his mentor and inspiration, so the movie is sort of payback time. 

While pursuing dreams of revolutionizing Broadway, the realities of Larson's life are closer to regular old struggling artist clichés. He lives in a scuzzy Soho apartment. He works behind the counter at the Moondance Cafe. He's always broke and behind on the rent (although he throws great parties). He's been working on his first musical – a satirical sci-fi fantasy called “Superbia” – for seven years now. He's on the brink of his 30^th birthday, ashamed and terrified that he has nothing to show for himself.

He shares all this information onstage, sometimes at the piano, sometimes at a stand-up mike in front of an audience with a group of singers and musicians behind him. This format turns out to be “tick, tick …BOOM!,” his second musical, created after his agent advised him to “write what you know.”

Screenwriter Steven Levenson uses the musical numbers on stage as lead-ins and flashbacks to the situations and moments that inspired Larson to write each song. He was the kind of guy who always had a pad in his pocket to mine his experiences as he was having them, to see if there was any good material there.

The pros and cons of trying to live your life as art are on full display in the sequence where Jon's relationship with his dancer-girlfriend Susan (Alexandra Shipp) has reached the breaking point … but not to worry. He turns it into the best song in the show, a comical romantic duet with scene-stealing Vanessa Hudgens.

His best friend Michael (Rubin de Jesus) is also a source of rich material. Pals since boyhood, they did high school musicals together and moved to the city to chase their Broadway dreams. But Michael's tolerance for rejection finally convinced him he'd rather be driving his BMW home to his snazzy apartment from his high-paying job in advertising.

Reminding Jon that his talent for turning everything into a jingle would actually pay real money on Madison Avenue – as opposed to the big zero he's grossed composing show tunes – is another source of angst for Jon … that he turns into a bunch of songs.

Although he tragically wasn't around to see it, the real Jonathan Larson provided a bridge in the history of modern musical theater, from the breakthrough '60s rock opera hair “Hair,” through the Pulitzer-winning look in the rehearsal studio mirrors of “A Chorus Line,” to Miranda's brilliantly original history lesson in “Hamilton.” Not quite a member of the Broadway club in his lifetime, Larson still got the attention of musical icon Stephen Sondheim (Bradley Whitford), who definitely took notice and helped guide him.

While “tick, tick … BOOM!” is a labor of love for the filmmakers, I found it more a labor to like.

Partly it's the music, which isn't especially hummable, touching or memorable once each song ends.

More problematic is the tribute's subject. There's no question that Garfield brings prodigious musical and theatrical gifts (not to mention, terrific swimming form) to a role that's an awards contender by design. It gets extra candor points for admitting Larson's willingness to sacrifice – and exploit – the real relationships in his life for “his art.”

But unfortunately, the real Jonathan Larson who appears in the videos under the closing credits looks a lot more likable than the guy who's been in the movie up to this point.