Set chiefly across one night, Blue Moon takes place on the cusp of this changing of the guard.
It’s March 1943, and Rodgers (Andrew Scott) and Hammerstein (Simon Delaney) have just unveiled their first collaboration, Oklahoma!, to 1600 enthusiastic audience members in New York. With the critics ecstatic, Hart (Ethan Hawke) leaves early to head to the after-party at famed midtown restaurant Sardi’s.
Drinking heavily, he props himself up at the bar (run by Bobby Cannnavale), awaiting the arrival of Rodgers. “Am I bitter?” he announces. Of course he is. He knows that the “inoffensive” Oklahoma! will run and run.
But he hates this “cornball” take on an Americana that never even existed. “Who wants inoffensive art?” he splutters. Speaking with all the grace and incision of Oscar Wilde, Hart has talent to burn; but it’s his struggles with alcohol that will be his undoing.
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The film comes scripted by Robert Kaplow, who previously worked with Linklater on Me and Orson Welles, another film that dived into the American showbiz world of the era.
This takes bigger risks, not least because it’s nearly all set inside Sardi’s as Hart holds court with anyone that will listen. The 1942 Humphrey Bogart classic Casablanca is referenced – there’s even a pianist (Jonah Lees) on hand to tinkle the ivories from time to time.
There are some affectionate moments, not least when Hart is introduced to a young male admirer – and an aspiring director – who introduces himself as George Hill. “Be careful of love stories,” Hart advises. “Think about friendship stories.” George Roy Hill, to give him his full name, would go on to make one of the great friendship stories of all time, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
Another encounter sees him meet “Stephen”, a young musical theatre aficionado (who happens to be Stephen Sondheim) who seemingly has no love for Hart’s work.
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Looking blonde and demure, Margaret Qualley pops up as Elizabeth Weiland, the young woman that Hart is obsessed by (although his sexuality, and his preferences for men, are frequently alluded to).
Hawke, on his ninth movie with Linklater, is dexterous here in a difficult role, although some creative choices don’t work. The bald cap and combover worn by the actor are very distracting. Likewise, the fact that Hawke has been made to look shorter (Hart was under five foot in height) against his co-stars feels odd.
Yet this is a sparkling script by Kaplow, brought to life by an enthusiastic Hawke, especially in his exchanges with Rodgers, when the man of the hour finally arrives.
Sherlock and All of Us Strangers star Scott captures the essence of a creative catapulted into the stratosphere with real elan. Rather than leave Hart in the dust, he feels for his erstwhile partner. “I owe my professional life to you,” he says. But their working relationship has become untenable.
The longer Blue Moon goes on, the more tragic it becomes, as Hart is haunted by the songs he’s written, the love he yearns for and the career he is about to lose. Alcohol has taken a grip of him. It’s a tender – and sometimes affecting – portrait of the artist, one that hopefully will allow modern audiences to remember the contributions Lorenz Hart made to popular culture.
Blue Moon will be released in UK cinemas later in 2025.
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