Cyrano

A joyous and equally heartbreaking musical, Cyrano brings Edmond Rostand’s world-renowned play to more modernized sensibilities. It’s very charming, as well as showcasing that Peter Dinklage yet again has what it takes to be a great leading man. Making positive use of making it more inclusive with its casting, it also benefits from an impressive visual style by acclaimed British director Joe Wright (Atonement, Pride & Prejudice) that merges spectacle with romance and music in a delicate mix.

Aficionados of the play and other cinematic adaptations might be disappointed that Wright and screenwriter Erica Schmidt didn’t stay true to Cyrano’s vision, where Cyrano always had a large nose. In the new film, Dinklage, who plays the classic character of Cyrano de Bergerac, has achondroplasia instead of a large nose, which gives the story a more engaging emotional sweep and a marvelous sense of empathy.

Wright, who has now been a seasoned filmmaker for 20 years, along with screenwriter Erica Schmidt (wife of Peter Dinklage), are able to transcend the beloved classic story with enticing characters, impressive set-pieces, sumptuous romance, and sweeping musical numbers. The film also offers some fun swordplay and an exuberant spectacle that would also make a great date night for any couple looking for romance and spectacle.

Throughout cinematic history, we have had many adaptations in movies that are based on the Cyrano de Bergerac stage play. From the stage to the screen, the Oscar-winning 1950 film starring Jose Ferrer. Since then, we have seen many other cinematic adaptations and reinterpretations of the classic saga starring Christopher Plummer, Gerald Depardieu, Kevin Kline, and even Roxanne starring Steve Martin, an 80s romantic comedy that played off the story of a skillful swordsman who falls in love with a woman named Roxanne, who is insecure in pursuing her because of his big nose.

Wright has again made a very creative modern adaptation, and Peter Dinklage is outstanding in the role, which not only comes with great swordsmanship, but Dinklage can also sing very well. This version of Cyrano was also a Broadway stage musical where Schimdt also wrote and the original music from the play stayed the same by Aaron and Bryce Dessnar of the rock band The National, who also did the exceptional score for Jockey, Cyrano is an extravagant and charming experience that should satisfy a wide audience in years to come. The song “Someone to Say’ is the most memorable moment and best staged musical number in the film.

Dinklage’s Cyrano holds the same parallels and stays true to the original character. Not only does he have great swordsmanship skills, but he also has great verbal and writing talents. Throughout his whole life, Cyrano (Dinklage) has been laughed off as a “freak,” but throughout the years, Cyrano has become very strong in combating his bullies and tormentors, which often leads to Cyrano out matching them with either his sword or his banter.

Cyrano is drawn to his childhood friend Roxanne (Haley Bennett), whom he is deeply in love with, but he holds back his true feelings because he feels the world will never accept him with a taller, gorgeous woman. Roxanne’s family puts pressure on Roxane to marry someone with money because they are in financial uncertainty.  The wealthy and cunning Duke de Guiche (Ben Mendelsohn) shows some interest in Roxanne–but Roxanne ends up falling for Christian (Kelvin Harrison Jr.), a young soldier in the French Army.

Christian is quite ecstatic once he discovers Roxanne has fallen for him. However, Christian is very shy and isn’t the best at expressing himself with words, whereas Cyrano is a poet and writer. Cyrano, loving Roxanne, ends up writing letters to Christian to charm her. They are his own words, his own feelings, and Cyrano knows how to make a dashing impact on Roxanne with his words. The performance by Dinklage in these scenes is quite vulnerable, and you can feel his soul crushing as he expresses his true feelings. There is a great scene in the film where Roxanne explains to Cyrano that she just encountered the love of her life where you can see the emotion in Dinklage’s eyes in his close-up. It’s a very heartbreaking scene because Cyrano has to repress his true feelings for Roxanne in fear of what the outside world would think.