Editor’s Note: Freeline Media’s movie critic, Mike Fried, has the scoop on new films that are streaming. Worth a watch — or stay away? Read on!
By MIKE FRIED
BLUE MOON
****
It’s 1943. A composer walks into a bar.
Seriously — that’s the set up. Only, the composer is Lorenz Hart and its opening night of Oklahoma! And of course, the bar is Sardi’s, the legendarily iconic restaurant in the theater district.
It takes place mostly in Sardi’s and it is a dialogue-driven film, so be warned.
But, oh, what dialogue. Robert Kaplow’s script is sharp and focuses on Hart’s insecure personality and struggles with sexuality and alcoholism.
But this movie doesn’t work without Ethan Hawke as Lorenz Hart. There’s a reason that he was nominated for Best Actor. He gives hands down the very best performance of the year and nothing would make me happier to see him win, preventing Timothee Chalamet from winning — but, hey, that’s me.
Hawke embodies Hart. He shaved his hair and created a real combover so I guess he was lucky that the film was shot in 15 days. His Hart is an absolute raconteur who enjoys his badinage with bartender Eddie (well played by Bobby Cannavale). He has reason to be spiteful toward Oklahoma! His alcoholism caused him and Richard Rodgers to split up and Rodgers partnering with Oscar Hammerstein II to write the musical that has lasted for nearly 80 years.
His hate is palpable. “Oklahoma! With an exclamation point, no less! Fact: Any title that feels the need for an exclamation point, you want to steer clear of,” and “‘The corn is as high as a elephant’s eye’ is the stupidest fucking lyric in Broadway history.”
I also give a lot of credit to Richard Linklater, not a director favorite of mine but I give credit where credit is due. He has crafted a tale of a man at a crossroads in his life and he surrounds him with people, both real and fictional, to enable him to speak his mind.
In addition, it is absolutely extraordinary how the 5’10” Hawke is made to appear Five-foot-nothing. Through forced perspective and oversized sets, Hawke looks positively tiny next to various characters including EB White, Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein, a young George Roy Hill and an even younger Stephen Sondheim.
Andrew Scott is magnificent as Richard Rodgers and Patrick Kennedy excels as EB White. Margaret Qualley is good as Elizabeth, the 20 year old sophomore with whom Hart is hoping to have a rendezvous.
There’s a magnificent gut-wrenching scene in which Hart and Rodgers bare their souls to each other and you can tell that while Rodgers admires Hart’s work, his personality leaves a lot to be desired.
Despite laden with a wonderful cast, though, this film is all about Hawke. As the reviews of Oklahoma! are read, the pain that covers Hart’s face is palpable.
To me, his performance is the best one of the year — hands down — and if the Academy doesn’t fuck up like they have in the past, he should be accepting the Oscar on March 15th.
And shouldn’t that be a reason to WATCH IT!
Michael Fried has no formal training in movies, except having watched over 26,000+ movies — if not more — in his 60-plus years on this planet, starting with Goldfinger as his first cinema experience. He knows what he likes and he knows what he doesn’t like, and it’s quite often different from the conventional wisdom. He knows that the best franchise is Godzilla and he loves action movies and comedies. He has not been nominated for any awards except some boring insurance awards which has no applicability to movies (with the possible exceptions of Billy Wilder’s Double Indemnity and John Cassavettes’ Big Trouble). He is part of a team that won the 1980 SUNY Albany Trivia content by correctly guessing the question, “Who played the president of Klopstockia in Million Dollar Legs?” So he has that going for him, which is nice.
Contact Mike at moviemike3@yahoo.com and mike.fried@yahoo.com.
