Blue Moon (15) Film Review
Dir: Richard Linklater, US/Ireland, 2025, 100 mins
Cast: Ethan Hawke, Andrew Scott, Margaret Qualley, Bobby Cannavale
Review by Carol Allen
Apart from a couple of opening scenes, the film is set in Sardi’s restaurant, haunt of Broadway theatre glitterati, on the evening of the first night of Oklahoma in 1943 – the first show Rodgers wrote with Oscar Hammerstein after he split with Hart. Hart leaves the theatre before the interval to retreat to Sardi’s bar and pour his wicked wit into the ears of barman Eddie (Bobby Cannavale), the bar’s pianist (Jonah Lees) and solitary drinker, writer E.B. ‘Andy’ White (Patrick Kennedy, while a goodly whack of whiskey goes down his own throat. Director Linklater has filmed Hawke to appear as vertically challenged as Hart was, who here is like a malicious but witty elf in the way he destroys the Oklahoma lyrics – elephant in a corn field indeed!. But as a veteran of the business, he also realises this show is going to be a hit. The achievement, the talent, the sadness and loneliness of Hart’s life are all here in this one evening. It is a brilliant performance.
Hart and the other three men hold our attention for the first act, as we delve into Hart’s soul. Then it all changes when Rodgers (Andrew Scott) and the others arrive for the after party as they wait for the reviews. The relationship between the two men is interestingly complex. Rodgers was seven years younger than Hart – just a teenager when they first started working together – but now he has become the mature adult dealing with the erratic and brilliant child, still respecting and caring about his former collaborator but unable to deal with his erratic behaviour any more.
The other element in this portrait of a self destructive genius is Hart’s sexuality. He was widely perceived as gay; he even jokes about that in the early scenes. But he is also obsessed with 20 year old wannabe Elizabeth Weiland (Margaret Qualley) – screenwriter Robert Kaplow based the script on the letters that Hart wrote to her. She enjoys the way he hangs onto every word of her stories about her beaux, says she loves him – “but not in that way”. Ouch!
There are also excellent supporting performances and in jokes for fans of the musical genre, as when Hammerstein (Simon Delaney) introduces Hart to his schoolboy protégé, little Stevie Sondheim (Cillian Sullivan), who knows all the musical shows and is seen here as a bit of a precocious brat! The film also captures visually the feeling of the forties as we know it from films of that era
Even though the film is dialogue heavy and, apart from the opening scenes, all in one setting it, still works perfectly as cinema. But with its strong story and brilliant role for a lead actor, it would also translate quite easily into the theatre. I wonder if some Broadway producer is going to seize the opportunity. If so, it would be tragedy if he/she failed to invite Hawke to recreate his brilliant performance. .
