In his directorial debut, Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda has made a movie-musical based on a musical about writing… a musical. It’s all a bit inside baseball and it won’t be music to everyone’s ears. Those not naturally inclined towards the form may struggle with its grating combination of earnestness and exuberance. The show tunes are an acquired taste too.
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Andrew Garfield plays the late Jonathan Larson, who went on to write the hit Broadway musical Rent. In downtown New York in the early 90s, procrastinator Larson has a week to finish writing his “sci-fi rock opera” Superbia. Distractions include his day job at a diner, his dancer girlfriend, a pile of unpaid bills and his fast-approaching 30th birthday. The actors play the stakes as though they’re enormous. Alexandra Shipp is a grounding presence as Larson’s girlfriend, Susan, while Garfield fizzes with energy and outsize emotion. He’s a fabulous crier and pitch-perfect as a shrill, preening narcissist who manages, against the odds, to remain resolutely likable.