Blue Moon (15)

Recovering alcoholic Lorenz Hart glides into one of his favourite New York City haunts, Sardi's restaurant on West 44th Street, having quietly slipped out of the opening night performance of the musical Oklahoma! at the St James Theatre. The rootin' tootin' production is the work of Lorenz's former creative partner, composer Richard Rodgers, and rival lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II. Through gritted teeth, Lorenz is loathed to admit that the show is destined to be a smash hit.

LondonNet Film Review

Blue Moon (15) Film Review from LondonNet

A barnstorming and transformative lead performance from Ethan Hawke as celebrated lyricist Lorenz Hart, the waspish wordsmith responsible for The Lady Is A Tramp and My Funny Valentine with composer Richard Rodgers, puts a spring in the step of director Richard Linklater’s intimate comedy drama. Set over the course of one turbulent night in March 1943, when a curtain rises on one of the great Broadway musicals, Blue Moon is a handsomely crafted study of artistic endeavour and bruised egos, peppered with the kind of bile-slathered one-liners that often catch the eye of Academy Award voters…

Recovering alcoholic Lorenz Hart (Hawke) glides into one of his favourite New York City haunts, Sardi’s restaurant on West 44th Street, having quietly slipped out of the opening night performance of the musical Oklahoma! at the St James Theatre. The rootin’ tootin’ production is the work of Lorenz’s former creative partner, composer Richard Rodgers (Andrew Scott), and rival lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II (Simon Delaney). Through gritted teeth, Lorenz is loathed to admit that the show is destined to be a smash hit.

Irked by Rodgers’ impending success without him, Lorenz trades acidic barbs with bar man Eddie (Bobby Cannavale) and pianist Morty (Jonah Lees) while he enthuses about a burgeoning obsession with production designer Elizabeth Weiland (Margaret Qualley). “There’s something appealingly ethereal about her face,” he rhapsodises.

Lorenz awaits the arrival of Richard and an opening night entourage of producers and cast and in the interim, he talks to writer EB White (Patrick Kennedy), who is perched at a table in the restaurant. Their subsequent conversation sparks creative inspiration for White’s children’s book Stuart Little. When cast and crew of Oklahoma! eventually spill into Sardi’s, eagerly anticipating glowing reviews from New York critics, Lorenz prepares to conceal his bitterness or jealousy behind a smile: “Time for the real performance of the evening!”

Blue Moon is dominated by Hawke’s spectacular embodiment of an artistic dynamo, who couldn’t escape the vice-like grip of addiction and would die a few months after the events depicted in Linklater’s slow-burning picture. Sporting a precarious combover of dark hair and a vinegary wit that is sometimes unkind, Hawke relishes the meaty monologues in Robert Kaplow’s script, which playfully address Lorenz’s rumoured sexual preferences and his resentment that the biggest hit of Rodgers’ career would be the first show with another lyricist. “Am I bitter? Yes,” Lorenz candidly confides to Cannavale’s long-suffering barman.

Linklater’s camera pirouettes around the restaurant space as Lorenz’s fragile dreams of a creative reunion with Rodgers are rebuffed and chinks in his armour are exposed. Robust supporting performances, including Scott’s weary former collaborator, add saltiness and gentle spice to the mix.

– Sarah Lee