I knew that I was going to love Blue Moon when I first put it on my watchlist at the beginning of the year. A Richard Linklater film about Rodgers, Hart, and Hammerstein with Ethan Hawke and Margaret Qualley? It was settled then and there, and predictably, I was bewitched by this movie.

I’m not the most versed in Linklater—though I’ve loved Hit Man, School of Rock, and Dazed and Confused—but Blue Moon may have just cleared all of them. Linklater has had a penchant for amazing dialogue forever, but this script was like honey for the ears, which fit the subject of Hart, a famous lyricist, perfectly.

Ethan Hawke was impossible to take my eyes off of, even though almost every minute of this movie was him talking in a bar. Hart’s silky verse was captivating, no matter who he was talking to. I was partial to the first act—before Elizabeth and Richard showed up—when Hart was waxing the most possible poetic with E.B. White, Eddie, and Knuckles. I myself could’ve sat in that bar listening to Hart talk and Knuckles play for hours.

The soundtrack for this film—if you can even call it that—was entrancing and delicious, and the exact kind of music that I love to play at the piano. I ate up the material, of course, and following Hart’s descent in the shadow of Oklahoma! was all the more enjoyable because I knew who everyone was and what they were talking about. Hell, even a little Sondheim made an appearance, much to my delight!

I’m not usually a fan of “slice of life” films, but Blue Moon had quite a different effect on me. Likely because of the great material and hypnotizing music, definitely because of the outstanding performance from Ethan Hawke that’ll totally be forgotten about come awards season, and because of the top-notch dialogue that beautifully articulated Hart’s development in just an hour and a half, Blue Moon has an incredible argument for one of my favorite movies of the year. I had a feeling I’d like this one coming in, but not this much. I won’t be surprised when Blue Moon becomes a jazzy, showtune-infused slow burn comfort watch for me.