Student Blog: tick, tick… BOOM! - A Letter for Artists

Since the announcement in 2018, I've been waiting to see the tick, tick... BOOM! movie adaptation, last weekend I finally watched it and let me tell you that I absolutely loved it. Even though I was not sure if this musical was going to be amazing as a movie, I was very excited but actually had no expectations, the things I knew were that it was going to be directed by Lin-Manuel Miranda and that the main character would be played by Andrew Garfield, but the way it surprised me, made it one of my favorite movies of the year.

First of all, I think that it works so good as a film because it has context of who Jonathan Larson was and as audience you're not just seeing literally the musical but also how it was created, the whole story that surrounds it and this make you understand better the character in every aspect, how he was feeling, why he had that lifestyle, his way to see life at that time and what he needed to do to become the great composer he always wanted to be. That was possible because of Lin's amazing work, not just in cinematographic aspects but also in the way he understood the importance of telling the story with the heart. From all the Rent references to cameos in some musical numbers, this movie reminded me of how magical a musical can be, because simple scenes like the one at the party at Jonathan's house or the "Therapy" sequence were as big as the "No More" or "Swimming" numbers, with just the songs and perfect acting.

This movie made me sing, laugh and tear, but the moment I knew it was one of the best films I've seen this year, was when a hectic Sunday at the Moondance Diner, became a theatrical scene where Jonathan suddenly is in control, directing everyone while they sing and this changes his mood from being done with the noise to being in peace and kind of remembering that his job as waiter is just a step to fulfill his dreams. And oh my god we need to talk about Andrew Garfield, he's a perfect Jonathan Larson, his gestures, his body language, his hair, his outfits, in two hours I really felt that I was seeing the real one; rumor has it that the Academy might consider him for Best Actor next year and for me he deserves it, because I never thought that the way to really understand Jonathan would be through a movie that it's not a documentary and Andrew did it perfectly, now I can't listen to "Why" without remembering that scene and wanting to cry, by the way the fact that he have never sung professionally just blew my mind, because he has a beautiful voice.

Finally, something very interesting about tick, tick... BOOM! is that it was meant to reflect situations in the nineties but the truth is that the message is timeless and I might not be 30 but I feel anxious about my future, about growing up, the question ¿Fear or Love? come to my head from time to time, sadly there are political issues such as the ones years ago and being an aspiring artist is not easier than it was before, so having this movie in 2021 is so important for the ones that need an advice because they don't know if they should follow their dreams because they seem impossible or because they're not sure if art really can change the world in some way.

This movie is a gift for theater nerds and a letter for artists, but also is what some of us needed right now, a musical that feels real without losing it's magic, a story that might touch our hearts with the amazing characters or the wonderful lyrics, a movie that has incredible moments and choreographies and still talking about fear, death and those things that sometimes are hard to listen.