tick, tick... BOOM! (film)

tick, tick... BOOM! is a 2021 film based on the one-man show and stage play of the same name by Jonathan Larson. Andrew Garfield plays Jon Larson, aspiring composer, while Robin de Jesús is his best friend Michael and Alexandra Shipp plays his girlfriend Susan. Lin-Manuel Miranda of In the Heights and Hamilton: An American Musical fame directs, and even makes a brief cameo in the film.

Jon narrates his life a week before his thirtieth birthday. He's got a workshop coming up for his dream project Superbia, an eight-year work in progress. Jon has to just write one last song, an utter showstopper. Meanwhile his best friend is no longer his roommate, trading in a slummy apartment for an East Side view and a marketing job.

• An Aesop: You can't focus solely on art, even if it's your passion, at the cost of shutting out people in your life. Having focus is important; so is having compassion.
• Bittersweet Ending: Sadly, Jon cannot get anyone to buy Superbia after the workshop, he can't do a thing about Michael being HIV-Positive, and Susan has decided to take the dance instructor job in the Berkshires. Regardless, the experience has convinced him to reconnect with all his loved ones, figure out what the next work is, and accept that he is turning thirty. Five years later, as Susan narrates, Jon did achieve his big break with Rent, but he had an aortic rupture the night that Rent previews were set to premiere before he saw the success that it achieved.
• Foregone Conclusion: Jon thinks that Superbia will be his big break. Fans of the composer know that Rent will actually be that big break, several years down the line.
• Forgot to Pay the Bill: Jon tries to hide that he has this problem this by saying that money isn't everything and being generous with his friends. He spends a lot more than he can afford on a waiter's salary. Both Susan and Michael know that he's full of it; Michael taps unpaid electricity bills when leaving with his things, and Susan bluntly says that he can't afford a beautiful music sheet book. Just as Jon gets the energy to work on his song, the electric company cuts his power because he didn't pay for several weeks.
• Good Parents: Jon's parents are one hundred percent supportive of him. They tell him to be proud of his workshop the day that it premieres and tease good-naturedly that he's become a bigshot when he says that a Reserved seat isn't for them. (It's for Susan, in case she shows up.) His real parents were the same, as shown in archival footage when they tearfully applaud Anthony Rapp's dedication to their son on Rent's opening night.
• Gut Punch:
  • The scene where Jon finds out that no one invested in his play. He is utterly devastated that people are waiting for his next show, after he spent eight years on Superbia. That's not even going into Michael's news mere minutes later.
  • As Susan narrates, Jon did hit his big break. It's just that shortly after, he died because he could enjoy its success.
• Poor Communication Kills: Jon's Fatal Flaw is that he does not want to talk about hard issues with anyone, like money or career moves unless they pertain to good ones for him. It frustrates his friend and former roommate Michael, who reminds him to pay his bills and write the last song for the workshop as well as Susan who wants to think through a potential job offer. Both issues end up blowing up in his face, at the worst times possible.
• Pragmatic Adaptation: Unlike the stage play, where Jon is ultimately proven right that making art is more valuable in the long run than "selling out", here MIchael is portrayed as correct in wanting a normal job rather than pursuing thankless actor auditions where he'd get racially profiled on a regular basis.
• Self-Deprecation: In-universe, Jon fully admits that he messed up with both Michael and Susan to the audience at the three-man show. If he had been able to get out of his head and talk to them, then he wouldn't have nearly burned bridges with any of them.
• Show Within a Show: There are two to boot:
  • We see the tick, tick...Boom! monologue performed on stage, with Roger and Karessa providing backup vocals. The movie keeps flashing back between the show, and the previous events that inspired the different songs.
  • Superbia is shown in bits and pieces, mainly through the workshop, previous critiques, and Jon's songwriting.
• This Is Reality:
  • As Michael tells Jon, marketing is not just more job security. He's not passionate enough about acting, let alone talented to justify countless auditions that lead to nothing. Michael is good at his job, and it means he doesn't have to settle.
  • Rosa gently tells Jon this about why his play didn't get any investors. Sure it's great music and a story, but it is so complicated and expensive that the musical is too much of a risk when you have high-tech demands and a giant cast. Plus, the story is heavy-handed about how capitalism is destroying art and blinding people to compassion. He would do better with a work that pulls back.
• Wham! Line: "I'm HIV Positive". This one is said by Michael, as he convinces Jon not to give up on composing. Turns out that he knew for a few days, and wanted to reach out to Jon to ask for emotional support. Jon gets a Jerkass Realization, runs through Central Park, and realizes that he has to stop thinking about himself and his ambitions.
• What the Hell, Hero?: You can make a drinking game out of just how many times Jon inspires this.
  • Michael tries to patiently tell him that there is no shame in being paid for commercial jingles or trying to get a higher living until he can sell a musical. He yells at Jon for being an ass during the focus group, all because he thinks it's equivalent to selling out.
  • Susan wants to talk out a job opportunity with Jon in the Berkshires, where she could train to be a dancer again in a more affordable place, and he could have more time for his music. Jon doesn't even want to seriously discuss it and shuts her out until the offer deadline. At that point, she blows up at him for not considering her needs or acting like an adult. As she says, she would have accepted if Jon had said he didn't want to move to the Berkshires; the issue is he didn't even want to discuss the pros and cons. And just as he's about to salvage the situation, she realizes he's composing a song about their fight, and walks out on him..