Blue Moon Parent Guide

Amid the darkness of World War II, Americans are looking for heartwarming entertainment, and they find it when Oklahoma! bursts on to Broadway. The musical is a smash hit, which is particularly rewarding for Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein (Andrew Scott and Simon Delaney), the show’s composer and lyricist.

The public’s enthusiasm is not shared by Lorenz Hart (Ethan Hawke), who has been writing lyrics with Rodgers for over two decades. Two decades in which the two men created hits such as The Lady Is a Tramp, My Funny Valentine, and the unforgettable Blue Moon. Hart sees Oklahoma! as sentimental, lazy, and poorly written. Determined to regain his place as Rodgers’ writing partner, Hart makes his way to the restaurant where the celebratory party will begin and stakes out a spot at the bar.

Not much else happens in the film. Hart spends 100 minutes opining on music, criticizing Hammerstein’s lyrics, praising good writing, cracking dirty jokes, dancing around his alcoholism and homosexuality, and rhapsodizing about a 20-year-old co-ed with whom he is infatuated. For most of the film, he converses with the bartender (Bobby Cannavale), a piano-playing soldier (Jonah Lees), and famed author E.B. White (Patrick Kennedy) before moving on to deliver insincere compliments to Rodgers and Hammerstein while also suggesting that Rodgers work with him on a Marco Polo-themed musical.

I’m normally a fan of conversation-heavy character studies but Blue Moon isn’t my cup of tea. Lorenz Hart is a complicated man: he’s gifted, self-destructive, consumed with envy, and somehow both arrogantly confident and cripplingly insecure. He’s also a bit creepy. Hart’s obsession with a girl 27 years his junior is unsettling enough without his voyeuristic desire to hear every detail of her sexual encounters with a fellow Yale student.

The sleaziness of the May/December relationship isn’t the film’s only downside: there’s enough negative content here for the movie’s well deserved restricted rating. Sexual innuendo and conversations are frequent, with jokes about homosexuality, erections, and masturbation as well as a discussion of a woman’s breasts and male genitals. The script also contains 17 sexual expletives and non-stop scenes of smoking and alcohol consumption, including scenes where a main character is intoxicated.

Given its structure and single set design, Blue Moon feels like an adaptation of a stage play but it was written for the big screen. Single set movies can be effective – witness 12 Angry Men – but Blue Moon often feels limited, not only by its restricted space and brief time but by Hart’s own lack of self-knowledge. It’s a sad film, increasingly burdened by loneliness and despair, despite the warm lighting and soft piano music. The actors are impressive – Ethan Hawke’s transformation into the short, awkward Lorenz Hart is particularly well done – but even they aren’t enough to make me want to take another trip down this melancholy memory lane.

About author

Kirsten Hawkes

Kirsten Hawkes has a BA in Political Science and English and has worked in international development and medical education and marketing. Kirsten enjoys reading, watching movies, and debating politics with her husband and sometimes unwilling children.