LOS ANGELES, Oct. 20 (UPI) -- Blue Moon, in theaters Friday, captures the wit and lyricism of real-life songwriter Lorenz Hart. Unfortunately, some glaring of the film's artistic choices prove too distracting from his character.
The movie opens March 31, 1945, as Hart (Ethan Hawke) watches the opening night performance of Oklahoma!, co-written by his former partner Richard Rodgers (Andrew Scott). At a bar after the show, Hart eagerly awaits the arrival of a young woman named Elizabeth (Margaret Qualley) and dreads Rodgers' arrival with Oscar Hammerstein (Simon Delaney).
Instead of the life-spanning Hart biopic, Blue Moon packs as much as possible into a dramatized account of one night. It feels contrived to keep the entire film on one set, but if it were a Walk the Line life story, or even a Complete Unknown style snapshot of a few years, that could feel just as contrived fitting an entire lifespan in two hours.
"One night in the life" is a valid approach, as demonstrated by films such as One Night In Miami, but it can feel forced. When Rodgers happens to chastise Hart for his inability to collaborate during normal business hours, it feels like it would have been more effective to show their partnership crumble than simply talk about it.
