Blue Moon

Richard Linklater’s Blue Moon unfolds over a single night in March 1943 at Sardi’s Restaurant in New York, while just down the street Oklahoma! is having its premiere. At the center is Lorenz Hart—once the brilliant lyricist of Rodgers & Hart, now consumed by alcoholism, depression, and the success of his former partner, who has moved on with Oscar Hammerstein II. Ethan Hawke portrays Hart as both charming and broken, caught between witty remarks and quiet despair. Margaret Qualley appears as Elizabeth, a young woman who briefly offers him hope, while Andrew Scott shines as Rodgers, embodying the success that has slipped from Hart’s grasp. Shot in just fifteen days with a focus on dialogue and performance, the film plays like an intimate stage piece where every silence carries weight. With his characteristic gentle, nuanced touch, Linklater crafts a melancholy portrait of a man unable to let go of his most famous creation—the song “Blue Moon.”