Richard Linklater’s biographical drama is set entirely on March 31st 1943, in New York. Song lyricist Lorenz Hart slips away from the opening night of Oklahoma!, the new hit Broadway musical his former creative partner Richard Rodgers has written with Oscar Hammerstein II. Hart arrives at Sardi’s restaurant, where preparations are underway for the opening night celebration.
Rodgers split with him because of his drinking, and, over the course of the film, we get to see why. Hart is clearly brilliant but must have also been infuriating. Ethan Hawke captures both elements of his personality superbly, especially early on when he points out the many flaws in his old partner’s new musical.
Hawke is matched by Andrew Scott as Rodgers who clearly has love and respect for Hart but also can’t hide his exasperation and his undercurrent of pain as he sees his old friend reliant on alcohol. Bobby Cannavale is good as the bartender too and I really enjoyed Patrick Kennedy as E.B. White, though Hart giving him inspiration for Stuart Little seemed a little contrived, as was his encounter with George Roy Hill.
There is a genuine air of poignancy throughout the film as we are aware that Lorenz would be dead within a few months, and that is mixed with laughs from Robert Kaplow’s witty dialogue. The more heartfelt scenes with Elizabeth Welland (Margarer Qualley), a woman half his age that Hart is infatuated with, work less well though.
With its single setting a stagey feel is inevitable, and maybe intentional, but Linklater does well to capture this particular time in a mostly entertaining way.
Rating: 8 out of 10