Oscar-nominated filmmaker Richard Linklater gives Broadway lyricist Lorenz Hart the biopic treatment in his latest film, Blue Moon.

On March 31, 1943, lyricist Lorenz Hart (Ethan Hawke) wrestles with fading confidence at Sardi’s in the New York theatre district as his former partner Richard Rodgers (Andrew Scott) celebrates the triumphant premiere of Oklahoma!. Over the course of the night, Hart confronts the harsh truth of a world that’s moved on from his genius—and a loneliness that isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

Rodgers and Hart were often called America’s version of Gilbert and Sullivan. Their songbook included standards such as “My Funny Valentine,” “The Lady Is a Tramp,” “Where or When,” “With a Song in My Heart,” “Isn’t It Romantic?,” “My Heart Stood Still,” “Bewitched,” “I Didn’t Know What Time It Was,” “Manhattan,” and “Blue Moon.” The pair collaborated for two decades until Lorenz Hart’s alcoholism made working together impossible, prompting Richard Rodgers to partner with Oscar Hammerstein II (Simon Delaney). You know the rest: Rodgers and Hammerstein went on to rewrite the history of American musical theater as a most successful songwriting duo.

Rodgers and Hart’s partnership was “celebrated”—if one can call it that—in the dreadful Arthur Freed–produced Words and Music, starring Tom Drake and Mickey Rooney. I hoped that focusing on Hart in Blue Moon would lead to a stronger, more thoughtful film. Spoiler: it doesn’t. And that’s before even getting into the casting—believe me, I have thoughts there—or the editing. My G-d, it crawls.

Robert Kaplow’s screenplay draws inspiration from Hart’s correspondence with Elizabeth Weiland (Margaret Qualley), a Yale student who wrote him eleven letters that Kaplow used as the film’s foundation. From there, Blue Moon drifts into historical fiction, imagining what might have happened if the two had met and if Hart had been in love with her. Behind the scenes, costume designer Consolata Boyle had no archival material to reference when determining Weiland’s look.

I have no problem with biopics zeroing in on a narrow period of time. Words and Music, on the other hand, tried to fit twenty years into two hours and failed spectacularly. Here, the problem isn’t the scale; it’s the lack of the music that made Rodgers and Hart famous. A few songs pop up, but mostly as background—sung by Hart or pianist Morty Rifkin (Jonah Lees) playing fragments at the piano. Otherwise, Eddie the Bartender (Bobby Cannavale) spends most of the film doubling as Hart’s personal therapist—and I spent most of the film trying not to call mine.

Where are the Jews? Does anyone know where the Jews are in Blue Moon? I mean, for a film that’s likely to get a push for Oscars, a little authenticity would be nice. But no. Once again, Hollywood—ever the champion of diversity and inclusion—somehow forgets the Jews when casting a story about Jewish songwriters. We’re talking about Rodgers, Hart, and Hammerstein II here! They literally wrote the American songbook alongside other Jewish composers and lyricists on Broadway, and no, Blue Moon doesn’t really make you feel it. I’ll give Kaplow credit for at least mentioning Jews—more than the 1948 film managed.

Ethan Hawke, for all his skill, isn’t Jewish. He also bears little physical resemblance to Hart, who was barely five feet tall; Hawke stands at 5’10”, forcing Linklater to use camera trickery to downplay the difference.

But even beyond that, the pacing is unbearable. For a film that barely hits the 100-minute mark, Blue Moon feels twice as long. Would it have played better on the big screen? Hard to say. I might have felt my life passing before my eyes either way. I’d watched Words and Music less than half a year before TIFF—Blue Moon was on my initial schedule before I dropped it. In hindsight, that was absolutely the right call. Richard Linklater really let me down.

In the end, Blue Moon is a slow, underwhelming biopic that never quite earns the acclaim it seems to seek.

DIRECTOR: Richard Linklater
SCREENWRITER: Robert Kaplow
CAST: Ethan Hawke, Margaret Qualley, Bobby Cannavale, Andrew Scott, Patrick Kennedy, Jonah Lees, Simon Delaney

Sony Pictures Classics released Blue Moon in theaters on October 17, 2025. Grade: 2/5

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