Culture Representation: Taking place in New York, Pennsylvania, and Washington, D.C., the dramatic film “Albany Road” features a predominantly African American cast of characters (with some white people and Asians) representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.
Culture Clash: During a snowstorm, an ambitious advertising executive gets stuck on a road trip with her ex-fiancé’s demanding and meddling mother.
Culture Audience: “Albany Road” will appeal primarily to people fans of the movie’s headliners and dramas with realistic issues about families, friendships and romantic relationships.
Filled with vibrant and realistic performances, “Albany Road” takes viewers on a roller coaster of emotions in this drama about an ad executive forced to go on a trip with the mother of her ex-fiancé. On this unexpected journey, the two women are forced to confront mistakes they’ve made and whether or not to make life choices based on love or based on fear. The movie has the right of blend of heartwarming and heartbreaking moments, despite some occasional scenes that look like sitcom material.
Written and directed by Christine Swanson, “Albany Road” has it world premiere at the 2024 edition of Ebertfest in Chicago. It subsequently had screenings at the 2024 American Black Film Festival in Miami; the 2024 Martha’s Vineyard African American Film Festival (where “Albany Road” won the award for Best Feature Film); and the 2024 Urbanworld Film Festival in New York City. The movie admirably avoids a lot of movie/TV negative stereotypes of African American people who are gathered for certain occasions. For example, none of the characters in this movie is an ex-convict, a poverty-level single mother, or is struggling with being in an abusive relationship.
“Albany Road” begins by showing protagonist Celeste Simmons (played by Renée Elise Goldsberry)—a hard-working and intelligent advertising executive based in New York City—in a meeting with her boss Craig (played by Ben Rappaport), who is a partner in the firm where they work. The firm has a major presentation coming up for a very important potential client. Celeste agrees to take the lead on the presentation, which will take place in Washington, D.C., where Celeste used to live. Celeste will be assisted by a junior-level co-worker named Andrea (played by Lily Cowles). Celeste and Craig make a agreement that if she can get this important deal, she will be made a partner in the firm.
The movie then shows a flashback to when Celeste used to live in Washington, D.C., with her fiancé Kyle Henderson (played by J. Alphonse Nicholson), who’s a professor of molecular biology at Georgetown University. This flashback takes place during a time when Celeste had been offered a job at this advertising firm. Celeste and Kyle are both torn about what whether or not Kyle will move to New York City to be with Celeste. (“Albany Road” was actually filmed primarily in Champaign, Illinois.)
Adding to this dilemma, Celeste (who is in her 40s) knows that Kyle wants to have a family, and she fears that she might not be able to have the children that they both want. Celeste is an only child whose parents died in a car accident when Celeste was in college. In a tension-filled conversation in this flashback, Celeste says: “I don’t want to be the reason why you don’t have a family.” Kyle (who is also an only child) says, “I don’t want to be the reason why you don’t have a career.”
It’s soon revealed that Kyle decided to stay in Washington, D.C., which is why he and Celeste broke up. However, Kyle’s rude and meddling mother Paula Henderson (played by Lynn Whitfield) did something to sabotage the chances of Kyle moving to New York City. Kyle had been interviewing for a consulting job with Celeste’s new employer. Paula (who is a widow) pretended to be Kyle’s assistant and called the company to say that Kyle was no longer interested in the job. Paula wanted Kyle to stay in Washington because he was about two years away from getting tenure at George Washington University, and she thought it would be foolish of him to quit his Georgetown University job to move to New York City, where he would have less certain career prospects.
“Albany Road” (which is named after the road where Paula lives) takes place a little more than a year after the breakup. Celeste and Kyle haven’t seen or spoken to each other since they ended their relationship. And because “Albany Road” is a romantic drama, that’s about to change. For the past six months, Celeste has been dating an attentive and respectful suitor named Phil (played by Gary Dourdan), who obviously has stronger feelings for Celeste than she does for Phil. Celeste thinks Phil wants to rush their relationship into going to the next level when she’s not ready.
As fate would have it, a snowstorm has caused all flights to be cancelled on the day that Celeste needs to go to Washington, D.C., for her big presentation. Stranded at the airport, Celeste gets the last available rental car at the airport. But her car rental has to be cancelled because Celeste has an expired driver’s license.
Another customer is waiting behind Celeste at the car rental area, but Celeste doesn’t want to see and talk to this person because this next customer is Paula, who knows that Celeste dislikes her. Paula has a valid driver’s license, so Paula gets the last available rental car that Celeste wanted. With no other immediate options, Celeste reluctantly agrees to share the car ride with Paula, who makes Celeste drive for most of the trip.
The two women bicker a lot, of course, but two things happen on the road that change the course of the trip. First, Celeste accidentally hits and kills a mother deer on the road. This accident stalls the car because the deer’s dead body is in the way. Celeste and Paula have to work together to move the dead deer so the car can get moving again. This deer later becomes a symbol of moving forward during rough times.
Second, the women find out that all the nearest hotels and motels are booked up. Paula suggests they reverse and go back to Pennsylvania, where Paula has a friend named Carol (played by Lisa Arrindell), a New Age “earth mother” who owns an inn, where there is room for Paula and Celeste to stay. Paula rejects Celeste’s idea to sleep in the rental car because Paula says it would be too cold and took risky for their health.
At Carol’s place, Celeste is in for even more discomfort when she finds out that there are two other guests at the inn: Kyle and his current girlfriend Morgan (played by Rachel Nicks), who is more in love with Kyle than he is with her. Kyle and Morgan (who has a friendly personality) have been dating each other for about six months. Paula is also surprised because this is the first time that she’s met or heard of Morgan, because Paula has been somewhat estranged from Kyle, who has refused to talk about his love life to Paula ever since his breakup with Celeste.
During the course of this life-changing trip, secrets are revealed and long-simmering feelings come to the surface. “Albany Road” has several moments of comic relief, including a subplot about Carol’s farmer husband Billy (played by Joe Holt) having a secret business as a marijuana grower, who mostly has customers in Maryland, where cannabis/marijuana is legal for adult use. “Albany Road” has some scenes of certain people in the movie smoking marijuana and trying to hide it from other people.
“Albany Road” occasionally has very contrived moments where certain people show up in an “only in a movie” coincidence. However, the overall writing has sharp and authentic dialogues and situations that can be relatable to many audience members of many generations and backgrounds. Paula has one of the biggest secrets in this group of people gathered at the inn. Her secret, when revealed, changes the course and tone of the story.
Whitfield and Goldberry are a dynamic duo in portraying clashing personalities who somehow manage to find common ground because of their love for the same person. The supporting cast members give good performances, particularly Nicholson, Nicks and Dourdan, who are skilled at conveying the various conflicted feelings of being caught up in a love quadrangle. Holt and Arrindell admirably carry a lot of the comedic parts of the film.
“Albany Road” has some predictability, but other moments that are out-of-left-field surprises. One of the more unexpected parts of the movie is when a young married Amish couple named Obediah (played by Jake Ziman) and Rebecca (played by Madysen Frances), who are on a Rumspringa vacation, show up as inn guests when tensions at the inn are at their highest. Obediah and Rebecca are blissfully unaware of these tensions, which leads to some bittersweet scenes. Thanks to a talent cast and capable flmmaking “Albany Road” has a lot to offer to viewers who want to see a relationship drama that isn’t too soft and isn’t too hard but serves up just the right amount of relatable life experiences in a meaningful way.
Faith Filmworks released “Albany Road” in select U.S. cinemas on November 15, 2024.
Renée Elise Goldsberry in “Satisfied” (Photo courtesy of Amblin Documentaries and Stick Figures Productions)
“Satisfied”
Directed by Chris Bolan and Melissa Haizlip
Culture Representation: The documentary film “Satisfied” features a racially diverse group of people (African American, Latin, white) who are connected in some way to Tony Award-winning actress/singer Renée Elise Goldsberry and who discuss her personal life and her career.
Culture Clash: Goldsberry, one of the stars of the original “Hamilton” Broadway cast, get candid about the conflicts and heartaches she’s experienced (including several pregnancy miscarriages) in trying to juggle her two biggest life dreams: being a mother and having a successful career as an entertainer.
Culture Audience: “Satisfied” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of Goldsberry, the musical “Hamilton” and documentaries about mothers striving for a healthy work/life balance.
A mid-2010s photo of Brielle Johnson, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Alexis Johnson and Benjamin Johnson in “Satisfied” (Photo courtesy of Amblin Documentaries and Stick Figures Productions)
“Satisfied” is a beautiful and inspirational documentary about how family love can be found in many places with various people. Renée Elise Goldsberry generously opens up about how her pregnancy issues affected her life. Most of the documentary consists of personal videos that actress/singer Goldsberry filmed herself from 2005 to 2023. There are also exclusive interviews in the documentary with some of her family members and colleagues. “Satisfied” had its world premiere at the 2024 Tribeca Festival.
Directed by Chris Bolan and Melissa Haizlip, “Satisfied” offers an intimate look at what it’s been like for Goldsberry to handle a high-profile and busy career in entertainment while privately going through heart-wrenching personal struggles. She says in a voiceover near the beginning of the movie: “I had two dreams when I was little: to be a mother and to have a career as a singer and actress.” In some circumstances, she felt she had to choose between one of these two dreams or “lose everything.” She adds, “Here are some of my battles, lost and won.”
Goldsberry was born on January 2, 1971, in San Jose, California, and was raised in Houston and Detroit. Her father Ronald Goldsberry (a former automotive executive) and her mother Betty Sanders (who was an industrial psychologist) are seen in various parts of the documentary, but they don’t give formal sit-down interviews for the movie. The documentary has a cinéma vérité approach, rather than a traditional biography format. Although there’s a brief scene of a family reunion in Houston, Renée’s three brothers are not shown speaking in the documentary.
“Satisfied” jumps around a bit in the timeline, but what emerges is a portrait of Renée as a very driven and talented performer who has always strived to achieve a healthy balance between her work life and her personal life. She found success as a fairly well-known supporting actress on television (with roles in “Ally McBeal,” “One Life to Live” and “The Good Wife”) and on Broadway (including “Rent” and “The Color Purple”), but her biggest breakthrough came as an original cast member of the Broadway smash musical “Hamilton.”
In “Hamilton” (which is based on the life of historical figure Alexander Hamilton and Ron Chernow’s 2004 non-fiction book “Hamilton”), Renée had the role of Angelica Schuyler, the eldest of three wealthy socialite sisters. Angelica’s sister Eliza (played by Phillipa Soo) was married to ambitious politician Alexander Hamilton (played by “Hamilton” musical creator Lin-Manuel Miranda), but Angelica was in love with him too. Youngest sister Peggy Schuyler (played by Jasmine Cephas Jones) is also affected by this love triangle. For her role in “Hamilton,” Renée won a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical, as well as many other prizes, including a Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album.
A great deal of “Satisfied” (which is named after Angelica Schuyler’s signature song in “Hamilton”) shows Renée’s “Hamilton” journey. Her post-“Hamilton” career is barely mentioned at the end of the documentary. “Satisfied” is the first feature-length documentary to have this treasure trove of behind-the-scenes “Hamilton” footage from a member of the show’s original cast.
As many “Hamilton” fans already know, Renée originally turned down many invitations to be part of the “Hamilton” workshop in 2014, but she was convinced to do the workshop after hearing “Satisfied,” which was her audition song for the show. The documentary includes videojournal footage and other behind-the-scenes footage of her entire “Hamilton” journey, including how she only had about two hours to learn the lyrics to “Satisfied” before her audition. There was no guarantee that doing the workshop would get her the role of Angelica Schuyler, but she did get the role, and the rest is history.
“Hamilton’s” off-Broadway stint was from January to May 2015. “Hamilton” then had an award-winning Broadway run that broke box-office records with the original Broadway cast, beginning when the musical opened on Broadway August 2015. Several of “Hamilton’s” original Broadway cast members voluntarily left the show in July 2016, to work on other projects. Renée’s voluntary exit from “Hamilton” was in September 2016.
Renée takes viewers though all the nerve-wracking stress and the emotion-swelling triumphs of “Hamilton,” from her perspective of being a part of this groundbreaking musical. The camaraderie in “Hamilton’s” original Broadway cast was real, and they all became like other family members to her, she says. “Hamilton” musical creator Miranda and “Hamilton” co-star Ariana DeBose are interviewed for the documentary and say the expected complimentary things too.
What many people might not know is that in the years that Renée’s career was on the rise, she had several pregnancy miscarriages. By the time Goldsberry was cast in “Hamilton,” she had six miscarriages. When she was in rehearsals for the Broadway opening of “Hamilton,” she had become pregnant again but also lost that pregnancy.
Through it all, her loving and supportive husband Alexis Johnson (an attorney) was by her side. In the documentary, Renée says of their courtship that she met him in church (he didn’t know she was an entertainer at the time) “and within a week, I wanted to elope.” She explains it’s not easy to find an understanding spouse who’s willing to not only be married to someone with a lot of job insecurity but also be willing to be in the background while a famous partner is in the spotlight.
The couple, who got married in 2002, were fortunately able to fulfill their dream of being parents. Their biological son Benjamin Johnson was born in 2009. In 2014, the couple adopted their daughter Brielle Johnson from Ethiopia, when she was a 1-year-old. Benjamin and Brielle are in the documentary’s home video footage and are absolutely adorable—not in a contrived way, where you can tell adults are coaching them on how to be “cute.” The charm of this documentary is that everything looks natural and unrehearsed. This family has genuine love for each other—and it shows in this personal footage.
Renée gives a lot of credit to Alexis for being able to take care of their children during the times that she has to work. There are several scenes in the documentary (especially in the footage during her “Hamilton” responsibilities) where Renée expresses guilt for not being there for her children when she wanted to be, such as in the evenings before the children went to sleep for the night. But at the same time, Renée says she doesn’t regret being in “Hamilton” because of the many ways it benefited her and her family.
Alexis comes across as the ideal husband, but they do not pretend to have a perfect marriage. He briefly admits that the couple has arguments, but he doesn’t go into details in the documentary. Alexis comments on what it’s like for him to be being a famous entertainer’s spouse who often has the responsibility of being the primary child caregiver: “There’s no resentment. We’re trying to have a household where everyone thrives.” Renée acknlowledges that she is privileged to have the support of a loving family.
One of the documentary’s more poignant sections is when Renée goes to Houston while she’s on vacation. In addition to being part a family reunion, Renée takes time to visit her drama teacher from high school: Dr. Charles Geroux, who is shown in his home with wife Brigid Geroux. Long before “Hamilton” broke racial barriers in casting, Charles Geroux cast Renée as in the lead role of Nellie Forbush in their school’s production of “South Pacific.”
There’s a brief archival clip of Renée performing in this production, and she appears to be the only person of color on the stage. Charles Geroux says wasn’t thinking of color when he cast Renée in the role. He says cast her because she had “everything” and was the best person for the role. Everyone in the room gets teary-eyed when he tells Renée: “Keep going. And I love you.” (Charles Geroux passed away in 2023. The documentary’s end credits include a tribute to him.)
Many people only see the glitz and glamour of celebrity lives. “Satisfied” is undoubtedly carefully curated, but it’s also a poignant document of the personal challenges that celebrities can go through behind the scenes. People who are looking for scandals and misdeeds won’t find that type of tabloid fodder in this documentary. “Satisfied” is simply one person’s story that affirms a basic truth that positive family love is much more important than being rich and famous.
Culture Representation: Taking place mostly in 1990 in New York City, the musical biopic “Tick, Tick…Boom!” features a racially diverse cast of characters (white, African American, Latino and multiracial) representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.
Culture Clash: Aspiring playwright/composer Jonathan Larson, who’s frustrated that he hasn’t reached his goals by the age of 30, struggles to complete his first musical, which he hopes will end up on Broadway.
Culture Audience: “Tick, Tick…Boom!” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of movie musicals, Broadway musicals, Lin-Manuel Miranda and star Andrew Garfield.
Robin de Jesús, Mj Rodriguez and Ben Levi Ross in “Tick, Tick…Boom!” (Photo by Macall Polay/Netflix)
It’s very fitting that Pulitzer prize-winning Broadway musical mastermind Lin-Manuel Miranda (“Hamilton”) makes his feature-film directorial debut with an emotionally stirring and ambitious musical celebrating another Pulitzer prize-winning Broadway musical mastermind: “Rent” creator Jonathan Larson. In 1996, Larson tragically and unexpectedly died at the age 35 of an aortic dissection. A brief period of Larson’s life (mostly in 1990) is recreated with a winning blend of exuberance and gravitas in the Miranda-directed musical “Tick, Tick…Boom!,” based on Larson’s solo artist show that featured a book and biographical original songs written by Larson. After Larson’s death, “Tick, Tick…Boom!” was reworked as a three-actor show and premiered off-Broadway in 1996. For a while, Miranda portrayed Larson during the off-Broadway stint of “Tick, Tick…Boom!”
In the “Tick, Tick…Boom!” movie role of Larson, Andrew Garfield gives a stunning and heartfelt performance that perfectly captures the highs, lows and everything in between of what it means to be a passionate but struggling artist. Miranda and “Tick, Tick…Boom!” screenwriter Steven Levenson crafted a story that does cinematic justice to the musical genre, with elements that combine gritty drama with whimsical fantasy. This blend mostly works well, although some viewers who are unfamiliar with Larson’s story might be confused by the timeline jumping in the movie. Most other people will simply be enthralled by the journey.
Larson was born in White Plains, New York, on February 4, 1960. In the beginning of the “Tick, Tick…Boom!,” Jonathan is living in New York City and is a few days away from turning 30. And he’s not happy about it. Why?
Jonathan, who writes and performs pop/rock music, hasn’t achieved his goal of writing a musical that’s gone to Broadway. He’s beginning to question if he made the right decision to be a playwriter/composer. He’s so financially broke, he hasn’t been paying his utility bills. And he’s worried that eviction from his apartment might be in his future.
Things aren’t completely bleak for Jonathan. He and his girlfriend Susan (played by Alexandra Shipp) are in love. She is completely supportive of his goals, even if it means Jonathan gets so immersed in these goals that he doesn’t pay enough attention to her. Jonathan is also proud and supportive of Susan’s chosen career. Susan contemplated being a doctor, but she chose instead to have a career in modern dance, and she overcame a setback of fracturing her ankle. She’s been more successful than Jonathan in actually getting paid as a professional artist, although Jonathan is quick to point on in a movie voiceover that Susan doesn’t care about becoming rich and famous.
Jonathan also has three other special people in his life, who are all close friends of his: Michael (played by Robin de Jesús), his opinionated gay best friend from childhood; Carolyn (played by Mj Rodriguez, also known as Michaela Jaé Rodriguez), a sassy co-worker at the Moondance Diner, where she and Jonathan work as servers; and sweet-natured Freddy (played by Ben Levi Ross), who’s also a Moondance Diner server. Michael used to be a struggling actor and Jonathan’s roommate, but he gave up this lifestyle to have a steady income as an advertising agency executive.
Jonathan has been working on a musical called “Superbia,” which he describes as an “original dystopian musical that I’ve been writing and rewriting.” It’s the “rewriting” part that has got Jonathan anxious, because he currently has writer’s block in finishing the musical. Another problem is that Jonathan has a hard time describing the plot of the musical, because he doesn’t quite know where the plot is going.
Jonathan throws a 30th birthday party for himself at his apartment. Michael, who is more financially practical than Jonathan, gently chides Jonathan for spending money on the party when Jonathan hasn’t been paying his bills. Jonathan and Susan still have romantic sparks between them, but something has shifted in their relationship: Jonathan turning 30 has given him a new restlessness and insecurity about his career goals, while Susan wants a sign that Jonathan is ready to make a more solid commitment to her.
Susan and Jonathan don’t live together, and they’re not in a rush to get married. However, Susan wants to eventually live with Jonathan, who doesn’t really want to commit to a “yes” or “no” answer in contemplating taking their relationship to the “live-in partner” level. Jonathan and Susan’s relationship is tested in a big way when Susan gets a job offer to be a dancer and dance instructor in the Berkshires, a rural part of Massachusetts.
The news about this job offer comes around the same time that Jonathan gets a big opportunity for his musical theater dreams: He’s been asked to present “Superbia” as a workshop at Playwright Horizons. The director of Playwright Horizons is Ira Weitzman (played by Jonathan Marc Sherman), an experienced, middle-aged theater benefactor who is encouraging to Jonathan but is skeptical that Jonathan can be focused enough to finish “Superbia.”
Invitations have gone out for the “Superbia” workshop, but few people have responded so far. Still, Jonathan is under immense pressure to finish his musical by the deadline. He’s too embarrassed to tell Ira the biggest problem: He hasn’t written a single song for the musical yet.
“Tick, Tick…Boom!” has two parallel countdowns: (1) The more explicitly stated countdown to Jonathan finishing his “Superbia” musical on time, and (2) Jonathan’s own internal and implicit countdown to write a musical that ends up on Broadway before he thinks he’s too old. The title of “Tick, Tick…Boom!” comes from Jonathan’s description of how he feels like his life is a ticking time bomb where his dreams will explode into disappointment if he doesn’t reach his career goals by the deadlines that he sets for himself.
During these intense scenes of Jonathan rushing to finish “Superbia” on time, he encounters some other problems: Susan is pressuring Jonathan to set aside time to talk with her about the decision she’ll make on whether or not she’ll take the dance job in the Berkshires. He avoids Susan because he wants to work on “Superbia.” Jonathan, who uses a computer for writing the musical’s book, experiences a major setback when his electricity is suddenly turned off the night before the workshop, and he still hasn’t finished the musical.
Jonathan’s fast-talking agent Rosa Stevens (played by Judith Light) does the best she can to get him work, but she’s blunt in telling him that it’s difficult when he hasn’t had any work produced on Broadway. At this point in time, Jonathan’s best shot of getting investors for “Superbia” is through this upcoming workshop, which could lead to “Superbia” going to Broadway, if everything goes according to Jonathan’s plan. As far as he’s concerned, this workshop for “Superbia” is a “make it or break it” moment in his career.
But now for the moments in “Tick, Tick…Boom!” that might turn off or confuse some viewers: This entire tension-filled story telling what happened to Jonathan and his race to finish “Superbia” on time is told within a flashback context where Jonathan is describing this part of his life in a solo-artist rock concert musical called “Tick, Tick…Boom!” During this concert, he sings and narrates the story (often while playing piano), while he’s backed up by a band and two other singers who sing lead vocals the songs: Karessa (played by Vanessa Hudgens) and Roger (played by Joshua Henry).
In real life, Larson began performing “Tick, Tick…Boom!” (originally titled “Boho Days”) in an off-Broadway show, beginning in 1990, just a few years before completing “Rent.” “Tick, Tick…Boom!” essentially keeps the same premise as the stage version, except that Larson’s flashback storytelling is acted out in scenes on screen. What happened to “Superbia”? That’s revealed in “Tick, Tick…Boom!,” which has plenty of vibrant musical numbers, although some of the narrative aspects of the screenplay are a little clunky.
For example, there’s a scene in the movie where Jonathan, while performing his “Tick, Tick…Boom!” show on stage, has a flashback to several years earlier, when he met legendary Broadway composer Stephen Sondheim (played by Bradley Whitford) at a musical theater workshop. At the time, Jonathan was presenting an unnamed project that ultimately never made it to Broadway and possibly never even got produced.
Jonathan describes this workshop for aspiring playwrights and composers as having a rotating number of guest panelists who evaluate each musical presented. The panelists are usually professional Broadway writers. Stephen was one of the two panelists evaluating Jonathan’s musical. It’s an amusing scene where Stephen and a fictional character named Walter Bloom (played by Richard Kind) is the other panelist.
After Jonathan presents songs from his musical, Walter immediately gives an insulting rant, including saying that the musical has no identity. Walter also says that the musical style doesn’t know if it wants to be more like rock music or more like Broadway show tune music. Meanwhile, Stephen (who’s the most famous person in the room) gives a positive review: He says the musical knows exactly what it is, but the songs need more work. Walter, who is clearly intimidated by Stephen’s clout, quickly changes his mind and agrees with everything that Stephen says.
At one point, Stephen praises one of the songs as having “first-rate lyric and tune.” In a voiceover, Jonathan says, with awe still in his voice, that those words from one of his theater idols gave Jonathan the type of encouragement that he carried for years. As part of this flashback, Jonathan and Stephen are then shown having a one-on-one evaluation session, where Stephen gives Jonathan some more helpful advice.
This flashback scene, although very well-acted, is one of the drawbacks to the movie’s back-and-forth timeline structure. If viewers aren’t paying attention, they can mistake the scene of Jonathan meeting Stephen for the first time as something that took place in or close to 1990, not years earlier, as Jonathan quickly mentions in describing this flashback.
At any rate, even though Jonathan and Stephen have not been in contact for years, Stephen is one of the people whom Jonathan invites (by leaving a message with Stephen’s manager) to Jonathan’s “Superbia” workshop. There’s a scene where Jonathan somewhat desperately calls several people in an attempt to boost attendance at his workshop just a few days before it takes place.
Most of the criticism that “Tick, Tick…Boom!” might get is how it packs in a lot of issues within what’s supposed to be a very short timeline. There’s a point in the movie where Jonathan literally has less than 12 hours before the workshop and he still hasn’t written most of the “Suburbia” songs and he’s still struggling with the book for the musical. Whether someone is familiar with musical theater or not, the movie still has a timeline that’s kind of messy.
For example, it’s not adequately explained how Jonathan could be doing such a last-minute scramble to finish the musical’s songs the night before the workshop rehearsals. Certain scenes muddle the timeline on how much he needs to get done before the actual workshop. Certain parts of the movie go to great lengths to repeat that Jonathan hasn’t finished any songs for “Superbia” yet. And then, he talks about the one last song he really needs to finish is a pivotal song for the musical’s second act. But these deadline worries aren’t really shown in chronological order.
That’s why the workshop rehearsal scenes seem a little off-kilter. These brief rehearsals are hastily explained in the movie by having Jonathan showing up with sheet music for songs that might or might not be half-finished. Everyone in the group is expected to magically start playing and singing, as if they can easily learn this music and act like within minutes, they already know this music by heart. It’s a big leap and stretch of the imagination for the movie’s audience to take.
Instead of showing how he crafted these songs, the movie goes on a path of subplots and other tangents. You still won’t really know what “Superbia” is about by the end of the movie. If Jonathan doesn’t care enough about “Superbia” for it to be ready for the workshop, why should this movie’s viewers care? And maybe that’s the point, because the subplots are context to what ended up inspiring “Rent,” the real-life Larson’s best-known work.
One of the biggest themes in “Tick, Tick…Boom!” is the decisions that aspiring artists have to make between pursuing their artistic passion when it pays little or nothing, or giving it up to work full-time at a job that pays a steady income. Many artists who haven’t “made it” find a way to compromise, by having a day job to pay the bills and pursuing their artistic passion in their free time.
Jonathan is in that “in-between” zone, but he wonders out loud how much of a loser he might be if he keeps being a restaurant server well into his 30s. He likes his co-workers, but he knows the job doesn’t pay enough to get him out of his financial hole. However, working at the Moondance Diner is one of the few jobs he can get with the flexibility of work hours that can give him the time to work on his musicals.
Michael has already made his own decision on how he’s going to make living, and he’s at peace with giving up acting, because he considered himself to be a mediocre actor. Michael makes enough money at his ad agency job to move into an upscale apartment building and buy a BMW. Jonathan thinks Michael is being a sellout, because he thinks Michael gave up his real passion: being an actor.
Meanwhile, Michael thinks Jonathan should not give up his passion to be a musical theater writer because Michael thinks that Jonathan has extraordinary talent that should not be squandered. However, Michael thinks Jonathan needs to stop having a self-righteous attitude about being a starving artist and find a way to make more money so that Jonathan can be more financially responsible in paying basic bills. Jonathan and Michael have an argument about it, because in their own separate ways, Michael and Jonathan feel like the other one is being somewhat of a hypocrite in their career decisions.
In the “race against time” aspect of the “Superbia” workshop, Jonathan finds out that Ira won’t pay for the number of band musicians that Jonathan says he needs for the “Superbia” workshop. And so, there are scenes where Jonathan has to rush to find a way to come up with the money. As a last resort, he accepts Michael’s offer to be part of a paid focus group for the ad agency.
Jonathan’s participation in the focus group is one of the movie’s funnier scenes. He’s only in this focus group for the money. Jonathan has a deeply cynical attitude toward ad agencies, which he thinks are in the business of lying to “sell shit to people that they don’t need.” Laura Benanti portrays Judy, the ad agency’s slightly uptight leader of the focus group. Utkarsh Ambudkar has a comedic cameo as Todd, one of the gullible focus group participants. (In real life, Ambudkar and Miranda are two of the members of the performance group Freestyle Love Supreme.)
There are other issues in Jonathan’s life. He’s terrified of being considered a failure. Jonathan’s parents Nan (played by Judy Kuhn) and Al (played by Danny Burstein), who appear briefly in the movie, are emotionally supportive and not far from his mind, because he doesn’t want to be a disappointment to them. (In real life, Larson had a sister named Julie, but she’s not mentioned in the movie.) And then, certain people in the story have a health crisis that deeply affects many people.
It’s a lot to pack in a movie that’s a musical within a musical. Despite having a timeline that could’ve been been presented better, “Tick, Tick…Boom!” is able to rise above its flaws, thanks to stellar performances from the cast members. Garfield is the obvious standout. He’s able to convey genuine emotions without falling into the musical actor trap of over-emoting.
Shipp, Hudgens and de Jesus also have moments where they shine in the film. “Tick, Tick…Boom!” is not one of those musicals where only the musical numbers are the highlights. There are plenty of spoken-word-only dramatic moments that are among the best in the movie, particularly those that involve the friendship between Jonathan and Michael. As Jonathan’s jaded agent Rosa Stevens, Light plays her role for laughs, and it comes very close to being a parody of real-life agents.
And because “In the Heights” and “Hamilton” creator Miranda is considered Broadway royalty, it’s no surprise that several Broadway stars signed up for cameos in Miranda’s feature-film directorial debut. The most memorable, star-studded scene in “Tick, Tick…Boom!” is for the tune “Sunday,” which takes place at the Moondance Diner. It’s a fantasy sequence where Jonathan lifts up his hands, the front of the diner’s walls fall away, and the diner’s customers join in song.
And what a bunch of customers they are. It’s like a who’s who of Broadway: Chita Rivera, Bernadette Peters, Joel Grey, Phylicia Rashad, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Bebe Neuwirth, André Robin De Shields, Beth Malone and Howard McGillin. Also in this scene are “Hamilton” co-stars Renée Elise Goldsberry and Phillipa Soo, as well as original “Rent” Broadway co-stars Adam Pascal, Daphne Rubin-Vega and Wilson Jermaine Heredia. Miranda has a cameo in this scene as a Moondance Diner cook.
An early highlight of the film is “No More,” performed by Garfield and de Jesús in an energetic song-and-dance duet about Jonathan and Michael expressing how they don’t want to be struggling artists anymore. Another standout is a cast rendition of “Boho Days,” performed at Jonathan’s birthday party and with Garfield on lead vocals. Shipp and Hudgens have their best moment in “Come to Your Senses” a powerful timeline-jumping duet that shows the characters of Susan and Karessa trading off lines of the song. And de Jesús will probably bring some viewers to tears with Michael’s heartbreaking performance of “Real Life.”
Other songs written or co-written by Larson that make it into the movie include “30/90,” “Out of My Dreams,” “Green Green Dress,” “Sugar,” “LCD Readout,” “Swimming,” Johnny Can’t Decide,” “Sextet,” “Therapy,” “Ever After,” “Debtor Club,” “Why,” “Come to Your Senses,” “Louder Than Words” and “Only Takes a Few.” “Play Game” is presented in the style of 1990s-styled rap video clip, with real-life rapper Tariq Trotter as the fictional rapper H.A.W.K. Smooth. The screenplay could have benefited from an improved structuring of its narrative, but the movie’s songs, performances and direction combine to create an enjoyable experience where the movie’s two-hour running time seems to fly by effortlessly.
Netflix released “Tick, Tick…Boom!” in select U.S. cinemas on November 12, 2021. The move premiered on Netflix on November 19, 2021.
