Blue Moon Brings a Broadway Legend to the Screen
One of my least favorite criticisms lobbed at movies is “stagy.” Just because a film takes place in one location doesn’t mean it’s any less worthy than a big Hollywood blockbuster. Some of my favorite movies, like Doubt and Fences, fit the “stagy” description.
While Blue Moon isn’t based on a play like those two films (and isn’t quite at their level), it still shows the power of an excellent, well-acted script set in one room.
The movie follows lyricist Lorenz Hart (Ethan Hawke) on the evening of March 31, 1943. His former songwriting partner, Richard Rodgers, has just opened “Oklahoma exclamation point” (Hart’s words) with Oscar Hammerstein II at the St. James Theatre. A bitter Hart leaves the show early and heads down the street to Broadway watering hole Sardi’s ahead of the opening night party.
He parks himself at the bar, regaling bartender Eddie (Bobby Cannavale) and fellow patrons with stories. Hart also awaits the arrival of Yale student Elizabeth Weiland (Margaret Qualley), with whom he’s in love, despite their 27-year age difference.
When Rodgers (Andrew Scott) gets to the party on a high from rave reviews, he wants nothing to do with Hart, given his history of alcoholism and depression.
As a frequent Sardi’s patron, I loved seeing its moment in the sun. Writer Robert Kaplow uses the restaurant as a backdrop for Hart’s breakdown, giving him wonderfully florid speeches that grow more desperate as the night gets longer.
Linklater demonstrates desperation through a brilliant filmmaking technique. Hart is most often sitting on a barstool, which means he looks up every time he speaks. As a result, the other main characters (Rodgers, Eddie, and Elizabeth) have the moral and physical high ground.
The one exception is an intimate and heartbreaking conversation near the end of the movie, when Hart and Elizabeth sit on the floor, finally equals.
Scott, Qualley, and Cannavale all have their moments. It’s no slight to any of them, however, to say this is Hawke’s film. The frequent Linklater collaborator delivers a brilliant and charismatic (hopefully Oscar-nominated) performance, holding the audience in the palm of his hand, even as we feel sorry for him.
This movie is a feast for any theatre fan and is worth seeing for the brilliant performance at its center.