91REVIEWThe folly of love, as told by Cyrano
IN AN AGE IN WHICH PEOPLE HAVE
gotten all too used to streaming new
releases at home, sometimes the best
a movie can hope for is to remind au-
diences of what a big screen is good
for. The extravagant musical Cyrano
is that kind of movie. If you’re look-
ing for visual grandeur, it’s here in bil-
lowing quantities: you’ll see gowns in
macaron-pastel colors and duels that
take place in the dusty velvet night. So
at least there’s that.
But Joe Wright’s well-intentioned
adaptation of Erica Schmidt’s stage
musical (itself drawn from Ed-
mond Rostand’s 1897 play Cyrano de
Bergerac) can’t survive its own petu-
lant, self-centered love object, Roxanne
(Haley Bennett). It’s unclear if, in this
particular interpretation of the source
material, Roxanne is supposed to be
deeply unlikable or just fl awed but
sympathetic. The most generous read-
ing is that she’s a silly thing who can’t
see beyond her own clouded romantic
vision, a mirror counterpart to Cyrano
(Peter Dinklage), the brainy, swash-
buckling royal guardsman who loves
her blindly but who fears— correctly—
that she won’t be able to see past what
he deems his own ugliness. (There’s nocolossal proboscis in this Cyrano—
the title character’s insecurities stem
from his own misgivings about his
physical stature.)
The story is by now so famous that
it practically writes itself: after learn-
ing Roxanne is in love with the beaute-
ous newbie guardsman Christian (Kel-
vin Harrison Jr.)—charming enough
but no great shakes in the poetry de-
partment—Cyrano agrees to pen fl orid
love notes for the eager swain. Rox-
anne’s ardor for Christian intensifi es,
as Cyrano pines for her from afar; Din-
klage conveys this with a pained facial
expression that suggests indigestion
more than lovesickness.
Still, that’s no excuse for Roxanne’s
failure, over and over again, at reading
basic social cues. In the movie’s most
unintentionally comical scene, she
fl ops around on a feather bed, clutch-
ing at her nightie as she gets fi red up
by one of Christian’s faked letters.
There’s a lot going on in Cyrano. Every
so often there’s a song about thwarted
desire, or a depiction of simple towns-
folk dancing around merrily in their
rough linen garments. Ah, humanity!
What a mess we are. If this Cyrano gets
at nothing else, it’s that. —S.Z.The many faces
of Cyrano of CyranoJOSEPH COTTEN (1945)
Mistaken identity and Mistaken identity and
amnesia stir up a romantic amnesia stir up a romantic
brew in brew in Love LettersLove LettersSTEVE MARTIN (1987)
The comic actor was poetic The comic actor was poetic
with a prosthetic for ’80s with a prosthetic for ’80s
favorite favorite RoxanneRoxanneTINA BELCHER (2018)
A A Bob’s BurgersBob’s Burgers episode episode
gave the socially awkward gave the socially awkward
Tina her Cyrano momentTina her Cyrano momentLEAH LEWISLEAH LEWIS (2020) (2020)
In In The Half of It,The Half of It, a shy teen a shy teen
helps a classmate woo the helps a classmate woo the
girl she has a crush ongirl she has a crush onADAPTATIONSLOVE LETTERS: MONDADORI PORTFOLIO/EVERETT COLLECTION; ROXANNE: AF ARCHIVE/ALAMY; BOB’S BURGERS: FOX; THE HALF OF IT: NETFLIX; CYRANO: MGM
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Bennett, Dinklage and the crossed romantic wires between them