Josh Reviews Blue Moon
Ethan Hawke stars in Blue Moon as Lorenz Hart, the real-life lyricist who wrote “The Lady is a Tramp,” “My Funny Valentine,” and many other songs, including “Blue Moon”, from which this movie draws its title. Mr. Hart spent years collaborating with Richard Rogers, but as this movie opens, the two men have split, and now Rogers is collaborating with Oscar Hammerstein. Rogers and Hammerstein would go on to become probably the most famous and successful American songwriting duo in history. Blue Moon is set in March, 1943, on the opening night of Rogers & Hammerstein’s new musical Oklahoma!, which would become an enormous success (far more successful than Rogers & Hart’s previous Broadway collaborations). We spend the movie following Mr. Hart during that night, as he watches his former partner reach a level of success and acclaim with his new partner that they never achieved together.
I was captivated by this film right from the beginning. It’s a beautiful and heartbreaking story, anchored by a magnificent lead performance by Ethan Hawke as Lorenz Hart. Hart is on-screen for pretty much every second of the film; we’re with him for every moment of this story. I’ve never seen Mr. Hawke play a character quite like this, someone so clearly talented but also so beset by demons (alcoholism, jealousy) that lead him to self-sabotage. I felt great empathy for Hart as someone who has been left behind, but also pity as we can clearly understand that Hart brought much of this upon himself. There’s a sense of looming tragedy in the film, as we’ve learned Hart’s ultimate fate right at the beginning. We know where this story is going. And yet, Mr. Hawke brings such powerful charisma and magnetic energy to the performance, that I was rooting for Hart throughout. We could see his talent, and we could see that so many people liked him and cared for him. That combination of potential and self-delusion make a potent mix. This is a wonderful character, and an incredible performance.
Blue Moon was directed by Richard Linklater. I’m always excited for a new Linklater movie! He’s made so many wonderful films, and they’re all so different from one another! Dazed and Confused, School of Rock, Boyhood, Hit Man… Mr. Linklater makes great movies. He’s done a beautiful job directing Blue Moon. There are no showy directorial tricks here, rather, Mr. Linklater allows us to float along through the evening, closely following Hart and being in careful touch with the rise and fall of his emotions as the night progresses. A film set in one location could have been static and dull, but Mr. Linklater creates a sense of motion and propulsion that keeps the story feeling alive from start to finish.
The film has a phenomenal script by Robert Kaplow. Mr. Kaplow’s novel Me and Orson Welles was adapted by Mr. Linklater into a film in 2008. Watching Blue Moon, I thought for sure it had been adapted from a play! It has the feel of a play, in all the best ways, with the entire story set around the bar where Hart is waiting for the Oklahoma! opening night celebration to begin. And there’s something about the back-and-forth banter between the characters that felt very much like a play to me. That’s a compliment. The film also allows many of its characters, most especially Mr. Hawke, to deliver some wonderfully rich monologues. I loved the dialogue in this film, and how that dialogue allows us to unpack the history between these characters and the dynamic between them. The film is fictional, but it’s based on the actual letters between Hart and Elizabeth Weiland (played by Margaret Qualley in the film). Mr. Kaplow has done a wonderful job in presenting this fictionalized version of these people and this world.
Bobby Cannavale (Blue Jasmine, Chef, Ant Man, The Irishman) is spectacular as the bartender Eddie, who seems to be Hart’s closest friend that we see, and certainly the person who is the most constant and attentive to Hart’s continual narrative during the course of the evening. Mr. Cannavale is magnificent, just magnetic to watch, and he delivers Mr. Kaplow’s dialogue with perfection. Margaret Qualley (Drive Away Dolls, Honey Don’t!) plays Elizabeth, the young woman about whom Hart spends most of the evening obsessing. Ms. Qualley is terrific. We understand why Hart is in love with her, but Ms. Qualley’s performance (aided by the wonderful way her character is written) elevate Elizabeth beyond a one-dimensional object of someone’s affection. I get the sense that she’s not naive; she has some understanding of who Hart is, even if she also sees him through slightly rose-colored glasses. Andrew Scott (Fleabag, Sherlock, Wake Up Dead Man) is also terrific as Richard Rogers. A lesser film might have presented Rogers as a villain, but I loved the nuanced way Mr. Scott played him here; he cares for and values Hart, but he’s also sick of Hart’s shenanigans.
By the way, I also want to applaud Ethan Hawke for allowing himself to be depicted as incredibly short! Many other leading men might not have been willing to go this route, but clearly Mr. Hart’s diminutive size was an important aspect of his character, and the film repeatedly reminds us just how short Mr. Hart was.
I am always interested in films that explore the challenges and perils of creating art. In this depiction of Lorenz Hart, we see the heartbreak of feeling left behind, and outshone by others. This is the potential dark side of creating art. The film is something of a cautionary tale of a man whose success has curdled into jealousy and bitterness (despite his protestations to the contrary) and self-sabotage. I found it sad and deeply moving. But this film isn’t a dreary slog! The sharp writing by Mr. Kaplow and the fluid directing by Mr. Linklater keeps the story moving, and often funny! Additionally, I was pleased that they avoided the cliche approach of having Hart throw a pathetic scene or something like that in the third act. There is almost grace in the way Hart allows Elizabeth to slip through his fingers at the end. I liked that choice. Throughout the film (as I was describing above), I was endlessly captivated by Mr. Hawke’s performance.
Blue Moon is a lovely film, and I’m glad to have seen it! (It was one of my favorite movies of 2025!)
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