tick, tick…BOOM!             4 ½ stars

tick,tick…BOOM! takes us into the world of Broadway musical theater in Lin-Manuel Miranda’s movie directorial debut. We are introduced to aspiring playwright Jonathan Larson played exuberantly by Andrew Garfield (who we just saw portray Jim Bakker in The Eyes of Tammy Faye). This musical was actually written by Larson about his own life when he was writing his first musical, Superbia, a futuristic never produced play he has been working on for eight years. Larson went on to write the musical Rent, the hugely successful production but unfortunately he died just before it was performed. tick,tick…BOOM! captures the ambition and desperation of Larson as he struggles to become a success at age 29, hoping not to be just a waiter with a music writing hobby. His behavior is so manic he puts off his girlfriend Susan (Alexandra Shipp) and alienates his childhood friend Michael (Robin de Jesus) who recently left the theater to pursue a successful career in advertising. The performances and music nearly rises to the level of In the Heights, the Miranda creation from last year. The joy and inspiration of the movie is balanced by the tragedy of many of Larson’s friends dying of AIDS. This is 1990, during the height of the epidemic, so there is plenty of sadness going around. There are some very well staged musical routines here with Andrew Garfield being worthy of his Academy Award nomination. I have enjoyed every role I have seen him in including the first film I remember him in, 2010’s Never Let Me Go.