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Parting ways from the more famous colleague in a entertainment partnership is a dangerous affair. Comedian Larry David did it. The same for Musician Andrew Ridgeley. Presently, this witty and heartbreakingly sad chamber piece from writer Robert Kaplow and director Richard Linklater recounts the almost agonizing account of Broadway lyricist Lorenz Hart right after his split from Richard Rodgers. His role is portrayed with flamboyant genius, an unspeakable combover and artificial shortness by actor Ethan Hawke, who is regularly digitally reduced in height – but is also sometimes shot placed in an off-camera hole to gaze upward sadly at more statuesque figures, facing Hart’s vertical challenge as José Ferrer in the past acted the diminutive Toulouse-Lautrec.

Layered Persona and Motifs

Hawke earns big, world-weary laughs with the character's witty comments on the concealed homosexuality of the classic Casablanca and the overly optimistic musical he recently attended, with all the rope-spinning ranch hands; he acidly calls it Okla-homo. The sexual identity of Lorenz Hart is complex: this film skillfully juxtaposes his queer identity with the non-queer character fabricated for him in the 1948 stage show the production Words and Music (with actor Mickey Rooney portraying Hart); it cleverly extrapolates a kind of bisexuality from Hart's correspondence to his protege: youthful Yale attendee and budding theater artist Weiland, played here with heedless girlishness by the performer Margaret Qualley.

As part of the renowned Broadway lyricist-composer pair with composer Rodgers, Lorenz Hart was in charge of matchless numbers like the song The Lady Is a Tramp, Manhattan, the standard My Funny Valentine and of course the song Blue Moon. But exasperated with Hart's drinking problem, inconsistency and depressive outbursts, Richard Rodgers broke with him and teamed up with lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II to compose the show Oklahoma! and then a series of theater and film hits.

Emotional Depth

The movie envisions the deeply depressed Hart in the musical Oklahoma!'s opening night Manhattan spectators in 1943, observing with jealous anguish as the performance continues, loathing its bland sentimentality, abhorring the punctuation mark at the conclusion of the name, but heartsinkingly aware of how lethally effective it is. He realizes a success when he sees one – and perceives himself sinking into defeat.

Before the interval, Hart miserably ducks out and goes to the tavern at the establishment Sardi's where the balance of the picture takes place, and expects the (certainly) victorious Oklahoma! company to show up for their after-party. He realizes it is his entertainment obligation to congratulate Richard Rodgers, to pretend everything is all right. With polished control, Andrew Scott acts as Rodgers, clearly embarrassed at what both are aware is Hart's embarrassment; he provides a consolation to his ego in the guise of a temporary job creating additional tunes for their current production the show A Connecticut Yankee, which only makes it worse.

• The performer Bobby Cannavale plays the barman who in traditional style listens sympathetically to Hart’s arias of acerbic misery
• Actor Patrick Kennedy acts as author EB White, to whom Hart inadvertently provides the idea for his children’s book the novel Stuart Little
• Margaret Qualley acts as Elizabeth Weiland, the inaccessibly lovely Yale attendee with whom the film envisions Lorenz Hart to be complexly and self-destructively in adoration

Hart has earlier been rejected by Richard Rodgers. Surely the universe wouldn't be that brutal as to get him jilted by Elizabeth Weiland as well? But Margaret Qualley pitilessly acts a young woman who wants Lorenz Hart to be the chuckling, non-sexual confidant to whom she can disclose her exploits with young men – as well of course the showbiz connection who can further her career.

Acting Excellence

Hawke reveals that Lorenz Hart partly takes spectator's delight in hearing about these boys but he is also genuinely, tragically besotted with Weiland and the picture informs us of a factor infrequently explored in movies about the domain of theater music or the films: the awful convergence between professional and romantic failure. However at a certain point, Lorenz Hart is boldly cognizant that what he has achieved will survive. It's a magnificent acting job from Hawke. This may turn into a theater production – but who shall compose the tunes?

Blue Moon was shown at the London cinema festival; it is available on October 17 in the US, 14 November in the United Kingdom and on 29 January in the land down under.