海角大神

Hollywood has always been overly fond of depicting the lives of creative artists as deeply troubled. Geniuses, apparently, must be shown to suffer for their art.

One artist, however, who definitely did live such a life was Lorenz Hart, the subject of the mostly marvelous new Richard Linklater movie 鈥淏lue Moon,鈥� starring Ethan Hawke. It opens with a quote from the great cabaret singer Mabel Mercer, who said that Hart was 鈥渢he saddest man I ever knew.鈥�

Known affectionately as 鈥淟arry,鈥� Hart was one half of the Broadway musical theater dream team of (Richard) Rodgers and Hart. He was responsible for some of the most pungent and expressive showbiz lyrics of all time, including not only but also such classics as 鈥淢y Funny Valentine,鈥� 鈥淭he Lady Is a Tramp,鈥� 鈥淏ewitched, Bothered and Bewildered,鈥� and 鈥淚sn鈥檛 It Romantic?鈥�

Together Rodgers and Hart collaborated on more than two dozen musicals. But Hart鈥檚 alcoholism and emotional disruptions eventually undid the partnership. Rodgers moved on, collaborating with Oscar Hammerstein II on a string of colossal hits, starting with 鈥淥klahoma!鈥� that eclipsed even his work with Hart. Eight months after 鈥淥klahoma!鈥� opened, Hart died, in his late 40s.

鈥淏lue Moon,鈥� scripted by Robert Kaplow 鈥� who also wrote the novel 鈥淢e and Orson Welles,鈥� which was turned into a vastly underrated Linklater movie of the same name 鈥� takes place almost entirely in one night. The March 31, 1943, premiere of 鈥淥klahoma!鈥� has just let out and its cast and creators are heading to a celebration at Sardi鈥檚, the famed theater district hangout. Hart, who attended the premiere, left for the party before the final act. He is already ensconced on a barstool as the celebrants, including Rodgers and Hammerstein, file in. He masks his boozy bitterness with an all-too-transparent bonhomie. He knows 鈥淥klahoma!鈥� will be a big hit 鈥� bigger than any he had with Rodgers, played superlatively well here, with a complex blend of deep affection and diffidence, by Andrew Scott.

Hart even admires the show, in a way, as a perfect piece of kitsch. But he can鈥檛 abide its all-American sunniness. His deep-down cynicism is roiled by a lyric like 鈥渢he corn is as high as an elephant鈥檚 eye.鈥� He even objects to the exclamation mark in the musical鈥檚 title. What gives the movie much of its poignancy and power is Hart鈥檚 realization, and ours, that the asperity and regret showcased in his famous lyrics are no longer in fashion. He knows his time has passed.

Hawke is not the first actor I would have thought of to play Hart, who sported a glossy comb-over and measured under 5 feet tall. I can鈥檛 say I entirely bought the transformation 鈥� despite some unobtrusive camera placements and subtle facial prosthetics 鈥� but Hawke gives it his all. He and Linklater have worked together on nine movies, including the great 鈥淏efore鈥� trilogy, and their creative simpatico is obvious. Hawke鈥檚 Hart talks almost nonstop in 鈥淏lue Moon,鈥� and yet I never tired of listening to his patter. What he says, so often at odds with how he feels, issues from a hurt place.

His psychological contradictions play out in full force. Although discreetly gay, he is rapturously in love with one of the partygoers, Elizabeth Weiland, played by the extraordinary Margaret Qualley. He has been corresponding with her, a Yalie socialite, and she, ambitious but kindly, indulges his affections. At first she comes across as flighty, but a scene between her and Hart in a cloakroom near the end bares their romantic souls. We can see how both of these people, in their separate ways, are caught up in a forlorn, unattainable love. Hart disparages 鈥淥klahoma!鈥� in the movie for being nostalgic about a world that never existed. But the yearning in many of his best lyrics is for an unrequited ardor that is equally beyond reach.

鈥淏lue Moon鈥� may essentially take place inside a single room, but it rarely feels stagy. It captures the connivance and conviviality of theater people 鈥� the way they come together, if only for a night, with a spiritedness that is both forced and entirely genuine. A success like 鈥淥klahoma!鈥� makes them feel anointed.

It is in this giddy maelstrom that Hart, at long last, seems most at home 鈥� and most alone.

Peter Rainer is the Monitor鈥檚 film critic. 鈥淏lue Moon鈥� is rated R for language and sexual references.