#TIFF25: “BLUE MOON” REVIEW

By Nicholas Porteous

It’s the evening of the premiere of Oklahoma! and the show is a massive hit–cause for a big celebration among everyone involved. It’s also the first show Richard Rogers (Andrew Scott) composed without his lyrical collaborator Lorenz Hart (Ethan Hawke). Hart can’t stand the musical, and opts to head to the afterparty bar before the curtain call. He’ll be the first one there and the last to leave. Blue Moon is a classic Richard Linklater joint, which is to say one man enters a room, has roughly 15-20 conversations in real time, and then the credits roll. It’s also one of the most entertaining movies I’ve seen at this year’s fest.

Hart is a phenomenal character around which to build a real time, conversation-based movie. He treats everyone like his therapist. He doesn’t just wear his heart on his sleeve–his whole psyche is turned inside out for the world to see. He’s not an open book. He’s an exploded encyclopedia. You get the idea. And Hart isn’t a blathering fool either–the guy’s a legendary writer. He knows how to talk. And everything he says is, at its baseline, either funny or illuminating. The sum of his often hilarious conversations is a rich and painful mosaic of a tragic artist, unaware he’s nearing the end of his life.

Hawke completely transforms as Hart. The voice, the rhythm, the mannerisms, and have I mentioned he’s somehow a few feet shorter? The supporting cast crackles and pops as needed contrasts to Hart’s outrageous personality. But the real shining star of Blue Moon is the words themselves—I can imagine Hart would’ve loved that.

Blue Moon screens at TIFF ’25:

Tues. Sept 9 at 9:45 PM at Scotiabank Theatre