Title: Blue Moon
MPA Rating: R
Director: Richard Linklater
Starring: Ethan Hawke, Bobby Cannavale, Andrew Scott
Runtime: 1 hr 40 mins

What It Is: We get insight into the mind of songwriter extraordinaire Lorenz “Larry” Hart following the premiere of the new musical Oklahoma!, written by his longtime partner Richard Rodgers (Scott) alongside a new collaborator, Oscar Hammerstein (Simon Delaney). The show looks like it will be a hit, and that has Larry spiraling.

Couple that with his confusion over a platonic relationship he has begun with a young co-ed named Elizabeth (Margaret Qualley), and you get a bundle of conflicting emotions all marinating inside one man. And what liquid is he marinating in? Why, whiskey, of course.

What We Think: Ethan Hawke is magical. This is essentially a one-man show, despite everything happening around him. Make no mistake, everyone else is doing excellent work, but Hawke is the sun around which every person in this bar revolves.

Robert Kaplow’s script is beautiful. Drawn from the letters between Hart and Elizabeth Weiland, Kaplow weaves a tapestry of stories that moves swiftly through the English language with the dexterity of a trained pianist, ironically enough. Richard Linklater has always excelled at humanizing his characters, and that quality is what makes his films so rewatchable. He does it once again here.

Our Grade: A+, This marks part one of a Linklater twofer for 2025. It is a wordy script that never gives you a dull moment. In a modern era where films rarely rely solely on language to captivate an audience, this one grabs you, holds you, and never lets go.

Ethan Hawke continues to prove just how great he is, and Linklater guides this exceptional cast to what is unquestionably one of the best films of 2025. With a gorgeous setting and premiere performances across the board, this is simply par for the course for Linklater at this point. I am almost disappointed when he releases something that is anything less than stellar. Check this one out. It is a dizzying, fleet-footed piece of film making.