Catnip for theatre kids. Ethan Hawke is astounding; he is unrecognizable and completely disappears into the role. They should mail him the Oscar now and save us all the trouble.
It’s also nice to see Linklater operating in this mode again, even though he doesn’t reach anywhere near the highs of his previous work. Keeping this largely contained to a single set was a brilliant idea.
The set design, acting, and direction all earn this movie extra points. Ultimately, though, Hawke’s performance can’t save this from being a bit of a bore. The way Blue Moon portrays him, Lorenz Hart is a sad man with few redeeming qualities. A well-inhabited performance unfortunately doesn’t make Hart more interesting.