Director Richard Linklater (Nouvelle Vague) has been actively communicating with the past, meaning he has released two films within the past year that pay homage to the figures behind classic films and musicals. Alongside Nouvelle Vague, a film about the making of Jean-Luc Godard’s Breathless (which was also shot in a French New Wave style), he also made Blue Moon, a film about Larenz Hart (Ethan Hawke), a songwriter who laments, boasts, cries, and drinks his night away as he dreads the opening night party for his former colleague’s soon-to-be-massive hit Oklahoma!. In a career-best performance from Hawke (Before Trilogy), 48-year-old Hart is in a fetal position in a rainy alleyway, withering closer and closer to death — a sad note for Blue Moon to begin on. The scene, shot with gorgeous, gloomy blue cinematography courtesy of Shane F. Kelly (Boyhood; Hit Man), is not so much as a forewarning of what’s to come but more of a somber prelude.
To learn about Blue Moon in a spoiler-free context, head over to EoM Contributor Gabe Lapalombella’s initial theatrical release review.
L-R: Jonah Lees as Morty Rifkin and Ethan Hawke as Lorenz Hart in BLUE MOON. Photo Credit: Sabrina Lantos. Photo courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics.
The film begins with the last night of Hart’s life before taking us back several months earlier to the most heartbreaking night of his life. As Hart slips away from the opening night of Oklahoma!, created by his former creative partner Richard Rodgers (Andrew Scott) and Rodgers’s new collaborator Oscar Hammerstein II (Simon Delaney), he goes to Sardi’s restaurant and waxes poetic with his bartender Eddie (Bobby Cannavale, great) as he reflects on his past career and throws jabs at his former partner’s newfound success. Amongst his talk of envy and romanticizing great art of the past, Hart also discusses his doomed infatuation with 20-year-old college student Elizabeth Weiland (Margaret Qualley) who will soon be in attendance for the festivities. Blue Moon, named after one of Hart and Rodgers’s famous ballads, follows a man who was diminutive in stature but larger than life. As his past and present collide on the night of March 31st, 1943, Hart confronts many things — his former partner, his self-confidence, his ego, and his endless capacity for love.
L-R: Andrew Scott as Richard Rodgers and Ethan Hawke as Lorenz Hart in BLUE MOON. Photo Credit: Sabrina Lantos. Photo courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics.
There are two quotes in the beginning of the film that attempt to capture what it was like to be around Hart personally. A quote from Hammerstein states he was “alert and dynamic and fun to be around,” and a quote from Mabel Mercer states he was “the saddest man I ever knew”. Both of these sentiments are brought to life in Hawke’s powerfully nuanced performance. Inspired by letters of correspondence between Hart and his muse Elizabeth Weiland, Robert Kaplow’s intimate script unfolds like a play. We follow around one man, with all his ramblings, musings, and wondrous thoughts spoken out loud. He suffers from alcoholism but insists that his bartender “leave the bottle” on the table so he can admire its beauty. He states he has tons of ideas and musicals he aims to create but thinks Oklahoma!’s success will bring his about his own obituary as a songwriter sooner rather than later. Hawke brings all of Hart’s emotions and contradictions to life, scene by scene, with painstaking detail — as he boasts about his past successes, we see the face of pride; as he verbalizes disgust for the optimistic theme of romance in Oklahoma! (a musical he humorously calls Oklahoma, exclamation point!), we see the face of envy; as he faces rejection, we see the dejected look of heartbreak. As different characters weave in and out of this character study, it’s Hawke’s more-than-Oscar-worthy performance that enthralls and enchants us through it all.
L-R: Margaret Qualley as Elizabeth Weiland and Ethan Hawke as Lorenz Hart in BLUE MOON. Photo Credit: Sabrina Lantos. Photo courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics.
Assisting Hawke in his excellent performance is a fantastic supporting cast. Andrew Scott (All of Us Strangers) is perfectly restrained as Rodgers in contrast to Hawke’s lively, dynamic Hart. As the two reunite, there is an air of animosity, fake congratulatory mentions, and an unbreakable wall of respect that exists between them. As Rodgers speaks with Hart about possibly doing a revival of their musical A Connecticut Yankee, he practices exhaustive patience as Hart condescends his work with Hammerstein and proclaims Rodgers should do more subversive art rather than optimistic art (“who wants inoffensive art?,” Hart asks earlier in the film). The back-and-forth as well as the memories of past grievances (Rodgers calling Hart’s mother in the mornings to see if he would roll out of bed and come to the office) lead to a huge argument fantastically performed by the two actors. As Hawke goes through the five stages of grief within one single sequence, Scott stands up on a higher stair (a visual metaphor), heartbroken to see his former partner/hero like this. In this scene, we’re not just witnessing the end of a friendship, we’re witnessing the breakup of a professional relationship. Patrick Kennedy (Atonement) is perfectly understated as E.B. White, the beloved journalist-turned-children’s author. As Hart goes over to his table and tells White of his love woes, Kennedy doesn’t steal the show as much as he adds to it, including sharing a key moment where he somberly talks of the soldiers fighting for their lives in Guadalcanal. There’s even a cute wink-of-a-scene where Hart tells White of a mouse that keeps following him back to his apartment, even when he drops him off at the park (the story is hinted to give White the inspiration to create Stuart Little). Then there’s Margaret Qualley (The Substance) as Elizabeth Weiland, the young, aspiring Yale Student who is the object of Hart’s affection. Qualley has a moment to shine towards the film’s climax where she discusses a passionate affair she had with another student. As she goes into detail, describing the ridiculousness of love and obsession when mixed together, Hawke stares on with a mixture of fascination, jealousy, and hurt. When she coyly asks him about his sexuality, he tells her that he is “drunk with beauty … wherever he finds it.” Hart is depicted as a man that exists, succeeds, and goes out on his own terms, regardless of the circumstances.
L-R: Director Richard Linklater and actors Margaret Qualley and Ethan Hawke on the set of BLUE MOON. Photo Credit: Sabrina Lantos. Photo courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics.
Boasting a pitch-perfect script of dialogue and controlled, masterful direction from Linklater, Blue Moon is an engrossing character study about a man who outwardly refuses typical notions of love but internally wants them so bad. This is the latest of many terrific collaborations between Hawke and Linklater including the Before trilogy and Boyhood. Linklater follows Hawke in every scene and the film does not falter for it as Hawke’s sensational performance carries the entire film. The film also has fantastic design — production designer Susie Cullen (Abigail) brings the 1940s to life with the detail of Sardi’s restaurant, and the costume design, courtesy of Consolata Boyle (Enola Holmes), is also on-point with the era. Hart believes in art, whether offensive or inoffensive, and in the beauty of art. Linklater shares this same sentiment and he makes that clear in this beautiful, heartbreaking dramedy. This 1080 p release is sparse on features (only including a theatrical trailer), but this release is definitely a must-have for fans of Hawke and Linklater and their fantastic collaborations.
Blue Moon Special Features:
- Theatrical Trailer
Available on VOD and digital November 25th, 2025.
Available now on Blu-Ray and DVD January 23rd, 2026.
For more information, head to the official Sony Pictures Classics Blue Moon webpage.
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Categories: Home Release, Home Video, Recommendation, Reviews, streaming
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