Blue Moon No Spoiler Review: Ethan Hawke's Extraordinary Performance as Lorenz Hart

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Ethan Hawke’s performance as Lorenz Hart makes Blue Moon my dark horse film of 2025: small, quiet as a stage play, and deeply affecting.

I’m a big fan of Richard Linklater, though not all of his films work for me. Blue Moon absolutely does. It’s a small, intimate story that almost feels like a stage play: contained, focused, and emotionally precise.

Linklater is an expert in dialogue. He and Aaron Sorkin are probably the GOATs when it comes to on-screen dialogue that captures and enthralls, and as a sort of bottle episode or stage play, the dialogue here is definitely top notch. Even being an era piece, it wasn’t weird and boring.

Ethan Hawke is extraordinary here. I forgot he was Ethan Hawke entirely and fully believed he was Lorenz Hart. I didn’t know much about Hart going in, but by the end of the film, I was rooting for him, aching for him, and carrying his sadness with me. He did such a good job that you quickly forget he’s portraying someone way shorter than he actually is. It works.

Of course, Margaret Qualley is convincing as his muse. It’s already easy to fall in love with this lady, and this portrayal makes that trait more evident.

This was my dark horse film of 2025. A quiet release, not a blockbuster, but deeply affecting and beautifully made.

★★★★☆

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