MIFF 2025 Film Review - Blue Moon
Images courtesy of Common State.
Richard Linklater is a director who has proved he can do it all, from musical-themed comedies such as School of Rock, to melancholic love stories like the Before trilogy. His latest film, Blue Moon, centres around prolific American lyricist Lorenz Hart, and uses many signature Linklater ingredients to create a whimsical yet somber affair.
It’s March 31st, 1943, the opening night of the now famous musical Oklahoma! in New York City. It marks the first collaboration between Richard Rodgers (Andrew Scott) and Oscar Hammerstein II (Simon Delaney), who, of course, will later go down in history together as the most famous musical theatre partnership of all time. Oklahoma! is destined to be a hit and is getting rave reviews, but Rodgers’s former songwriting partner, lyricist Lorenz Hart (Ethan Hawke), isn’t taking things so well. Slipping out of the theatre during the show, Hart makes his way to a bar called Sardi’s in the city’s Theatre District, where the afterparty is taking place. As Rodgers and Hammerstein celebrate their big night, Hart tries to mask his pain with alcohol, leaning on bartender Eddie (Bobby Cannavale) for support, and anyone else who will listen to him. Hart, failing in his career and clearly bitter regarding Rodgers’s success without him, reflects on his life, work, sexuality, mental health struggles, and his infatuation with the young and beautiful Elizabeth Weiland (Margaret Qualley). While Hartz claims to be happy for Rodgers, there is clearly much more boiling underneath the surface.
Aside from the film’s opening scene, Blue Moon is set entirely within the stylish and atmospheric Sardi’s bar, with the musical score provided by a young soldier (Jonah Lees) who spends the night sitting at the piano playing while listening to Hart. This provides the perfect setting for Linklater to do what he does best: creating playful and sharp dialogue. The majority of the film is made up of Hart rambling on and on, and fitting to his profession, is energetically lyrical and poetic. It’s the kind of screenplay that has seemingly been adapted from a stageplay, and while some of Hart’s monologues can get windy and convoluted, they remain engaging enough to keep the viewer interested for the film’s one-hundred minute runtime without any other major action needed. The deeper elements are also nicely balanced with comedic one-liners and an air of whimsy. One of the reasons the screenplay works so well is due to the transformative lead performance from Hawke, who completely embodies every layer and nuance there is to Hart. It can be cringeworthy to watch, as he switches from charming to pathetic so effortlessly as a man who is trying to keep it together but is evidently broken inside. An Oscar nomination is sure to come Hawke’s way, and the rest of the cast are stellar too. Period accurate production design and costumes help to bring the fateful night to life, and audiences will get a kick out of MCU-like appearances and namedrops from the theatre world such as E.B White (Patrick Kennedy) and Stephenen Sondheim (Cillian Sullivan).
Blue Moon is a masterclass in writing and acting, and makes for another wonderful team-up between Linklater and Hawke.
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Blue Moon screened as part of the 2025 Melbourne International Film Festival. For more info, click here.