I am no student of musical theater.  If you have read enough of my reviews for The Legionnaire, you will already be aware of my general distaste for musicals.  As such, when I watch a movie like Blue Moon (2025), names like Oscar Hammerstein II (Simon Delaney), Lorenz “Larry” Hart (Ethan Hawke), and Richard Rodgers (Andrew Scott), are familiar only insomuch as I know of their connection to theater.  My vague education regarding the genre reminds me that the last two on that list used to be the celebrated duo, but it is Rodgers and Hammerstein that most people remember.  Even if the tandem does not ring a bell, then I am sure their enduring hit Oklahoma! (1943) does.  Blue Moon is not about them, but rather the one who was left out in every sense of the word, and it is as sad as the title suggests.

A title like Blue Moon might also suggest a rainy night, and the first scene features the writer of the song’s lyrics, Larry, stumbling and falling.  The rest of the film makes clear how he might end up in such a situation.  In much drier times, he is watching the Broadway premier of Oklahoma!  Leaving before the most of the audience, he makes his way to the bar where the theater crowd will later be gathering.  For the moment it is just him, the bartender, Eddie (Bobby Cannavale), a soldier on leave playing the piano, Morty Rifkin (Jonah Lees), and a few others.  Those others are the cigarette lady, the coat lady, and sitting quietly by himself, essayist and children’s novelist E. B. White (Patrick Kennedy).  The names do not entirely matter because all Larry cares about is telling humorous stories and, most of all, talking about the woman in whom he is in love, Elizabeth Weiland (Margaret Qualley).  She is expected at the watering hole, and Larry is preparing for her arrival with a number of gifts, mainly flowers.  When she gets there, his world becomes about her, but her presence is short lived.  Eddie is a little puzzled by Larry’s declaration of affection because the server had always taken the writer for a homosexual.  And listening to Larry go on, you can understand the confusion.  With Elizabeth’s promise to return with stories of her college escapades, Larry turns to White to commiserate on writing.  They continue talking until everyone from the show arrives and Larry turns his attention to Richard.  Larry has made known his jealous feelings that his former collaborator has found a new partner with whom to make art.  He has also been critical of the new show, calling it too sentimental.  However, to Richard’s face, he is conciliatory, with Larry also trying to hide the fact that he has been drinking.  As we see in subsequent discussions between the two, the alcohol is part of the reason why Richard has moved away from Larry.  Claiming that he is now sober, Larry also proclaims that he is ready to work and has a number of new ideas.  Once more, though, creative differences creep in, with Richard not wanting the satire that Larry seems to prefer.  Nonetheless, given all the success they have had, Richard is open to them collaborating, pitching an idea for a revival of one of their popular pieces, and Larry is all too eager to accept.  At the same time, Larry presents an idea for a musical comedy about Marco Polo.  While Richard voices some concerns about it, Larry’s notions of unrequited love have the former interested.  From there, Larry returns to the bar until Elizabeth finally comes back down.  Getting her alone in the cloak room, he insists that she tell him all about what had happened with a man on whom she has had a crush.  As a practicing Catholic, I was not too pleased with the overt sexual nature of their tête-à-tête, but it is meant to underscore how Larry is overlooked.  He listens to her story, showing the level of interest of anyone who is in love, and she feeds him everything he wants to hear.  When she gets to the conclusion and learns that her subsequent attempts to reach this other person after a night of passion go unanswered, he sees his opportunity.  Unfortunately, she returns only a warm respect for him, which he tries to play like it is all he has ever really wanted.  To make matters worse, when they re-emerge into the rest of the establishment, and the party celebrating Oklahoma!’s success is coming to an end, Larry introduces Elizabeth to Richard.  Richard is immediately taken with her, and offers to give her a ride to the next soiree.  Because Larry had already been given assurances that she would attend his own get together, he pretends to not be affected by the apparent snub.  Indeed, he is about to depart himself when Eddie, sensing that Larry might be a little hurt, offers another drink.  Thus, the final scene is Larry back at the bar and launching into more Broadway stories.

You will have to forgive me if this story of Blue Moon is a little short.  In addition to the film not being lengthy, it also feels like it could be a play, with almost all of the action happening in one setting.  There is nothing wrong with this style if it works, and it does here.  Further, despite Larry’s vulgarness, I empathized with the writer.  The core of most of what he has to say centers on love.  The one person who is left out of all the discussions is God, but that is not surprising, sadly.  When a film is so focused on such a topic, particularly the protagonist’s inability to realize it, the Bible verse that must be included is a familiar and simple one: 1 John 4:8, “. . . God is love.”  To this end, one of Larry’s many pertinent lines goes that there is always one who loves, and one who lets himself be loved.  Of the two sides of that equation, Larry is the lover.  He does not seem to love himself, which is problematic, but he has plenty to give.  He can be brilliantly acerbic with his wit, and yet fawn over people like Richard and White when he perceives that he has given them some reason to be angry with him.  Then there is Elizabeth.  With her, Larry finally opens up about his true feelings, only for them to be unreturned.  It shows how broken are our affections for one another.  He wants something from her that she cannot give.  While he tries to accept the situation, it is also clear that it takes a toll on him.  Our interactions with one another are fraught with such potential pitfalls, and it is little wonder that we do not understand how to give of ourselves to one another in meaningful ways.  Sex is cheapened, but because we conflate that with love, it becomes everything.  These ideas are on full display throughout the movie.  Only God loves perfectly, and the closer we get to Him, the better we are able to handle the rest.

I will also say that Blue Moon is one of the better movies I have seen in a while.  It has a lot to recommend it, driven mostly by the performances.  It also makes you feel for a deeply flawed man like Larry, and that is always a win for this critic.