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Separating from the more famous partner in a entertainment partnership is a hazardous affair. Comedian Larry David went through it. The same for Andrew Ridgeley. Currently, this clever and heartbreakingly sad small-scale drama from scriptwriter Robert Kaplow and director Richard Linklater narrates the almost agonizing account of Broadway lyricist Lorenz Hart shortly following his split from composer Richard Rodgers. His role is portrayed with flamboyant genius, an notable toupee and artificial shortness by Ethan Hawke, who is often digitally reduced in stature – but is also at times filmed placed in an off-camera hole to stare up wistfully at heightened personas, facing Hart's height issue as José Ferrer once played the petite artist Toulouse-Lautrec.

Complex Character and Elements

Hawke earns large, cynical chuckles with the character's witty comments on the subtle queer themes of the classic Casablanca and the cheesily upbeat stage show he recently attended, with all the lariat-wielding cowhands; he acidly calls it Okla-homo. The sexual identity of Lorenz Hart is complex: this film effectively triangulates his homosexuality with the straight persona invented for him in the 1948 stage show Words and Music (with actor Mickey Rooney portraying Lorenz Hart); it cleverly extrapolates a kind of dual attraction from the lyricist's writings to his protégée: young Yale student and budding theater artist the character Elizabeth Weiland, played here with heedless girlishness by actress Margaret Qualley.

Being a member of the famous New York theater lyricist-composer pair with composer Rodgers, Hart was in charge of matchless numbers like the classic The Lady Is a Tramp, the tune Manhattan, My Funny Valentine and of course the song Blue Moon. But frustrated by Hart's drinking problem, unreliability and depressive outbursts, Rodgers severed ties with him and joined forces with the writer Oscar Hammerstein II to write the show Oklahoma! and then a series of live and cinematic successes.

Psychological Complexity

The picture envisions the deeply depressed Hart in the show Oklahoma!'s premiere NYC crowd in 1943, looking on with covetous misery as the performance continues, loathing its mild sappiness, hating the exclamation point at the end of the title, but heartsinkingly aware of how lethally effective it is. He realizes a smash when he views it – and senses himself falling into unsuccessfulness.

Before the interval, Hart unhappily departs and makes his way to the bar at the establishment Sardi's where the rest of the film takes place, and expects the (unavoidably) successful Oklahoma! company to arrive for their after-party. He is aware it is his entertainment obligation to congratulate Richard Rodgers, to act as if all is well. With suave restraint, Andrew Scott acts as Rodgers, obviously uncomfortable at what they both know is Hart's embarrassment; he offers a sop to his self-esteem in the guise of a short-term gig writing new numbers for their current production the musical A Connecticut Yankee, which just exacerbates the situation.

• The performer Bobby Cannavale portrays the barman who in standard fashion attends empathetically to Hart's monologues of bitter despondency
• The thespian Patrick Kennedy acts as writer EB White, to whom Hart unintentionally offers the idea for his children’s book the novel Stuart Little
• Qualley acts as the character Weiland, the inaccessibly lovely Yale attendee with whom the film imagines Hart to be intricately and masochistically in love

Lorenz Hart has earlier been rejected by Rodgers. Certainly the universe wouldn't be that brutal as to have him dumped by Weiland as well? But Margaret Qualley ruthlessly portrays a girl who wishes Hart to be the chuckling, non-sexual confidant to whom she can disclose her exploits with guys – as well of course the showbiz connection who can advance her profession.

Acting Excellence

Hawke demonstrates that Hart partly takes spectator's delight in learning of these guys but he is also genuinely, tragically besotted with Weiland and the movie tells us about a factor infrequently explored in films about the domain of theater music or the cinema: the terrible overlap between professional and romantic failure. Yet at one stage, Lorenz Hart is rebelliously conscious that what he has attained will endure. It's an outstanding portrayal from Hawke. This might become a live show – but who shall compose the tunes?

Blue Moon was shown at the London movie festival; it is available on the 17th of October in the US, 14 November in the Britain and on January 29 in the land down under.