Cyrano

by Mike McGranaghan

Cyrano brings Edmond Rostand's play “Cyrano de Bergerac” to the screen in a whole new way. Steve Martin famously re-imagined it as a comedy in 1987's Roxanne, and now Darkest Hour director Joe Wright gives us a musical take on it. Casting Peter Dinklage in the title role adds a second new twist. Cyrano's source of insecurity is no longer his nose, but his height. These ideas freshen up a familiar story while preserving everything that's wonderful about it.

Cyrano is madly in love with his friend Roxanne (the sublime Haley Bennett). He assumes that she could never return those affections. Enter Christian (Kelvin Harrison, Jr.), a young soldier who also develops feelings for Roxanne. He's not good with words, so Cyrano pens letters to her in his name. The ruse works, as she swoons over the sentiments. When Christian and Roxanne come face-to-face, though, he freezes up. Cyrano, hiding in the shadows, spontaneously provides him with romantic, articulate words to speak, essentially allowing his rival to say all the things he wants to say himself. Ben Mendelsohn co-stars as De Guiche, the nobleman who attempts to pressure Roxanne into marriage.

The characters routinely break out into song, performing music co-written by Matt Berninger of the rock group The National. Taking a musical approach works. (Wright is adapting the stage version written by Erica Schmidt, who just happens to be married to Peter Dinklage.) The songs are lush and beautiful, filled with longing. Unlike West Side Story and In the Heights, the movie does not utilize big production numbers with complex choreography. Instead, the singing is an extension of the dialogue, so that we remain laser-focused on the substance of what people are saying. That proves powerful, especially in the sequence where Cyrano feeds lines to Christian.

Cyrano may well offer Dinklage's best performance – no mean feat considering the high quality of work he's known for. The actor conveys his character's heartache with such depth that our own hearts ache for him. Stripping Cyrano of his nose ends up casting his dilemma in a fresh light. The nose was always something that called attention to itself. It was intentionally a bit artificial. Dinklage's stature is real, and he mines the idea that Cyrano might view himself as “lesser” than Christian, despite his love for Roxanne being even greater than his friend's. As Roxanne, Haley Bennett is equally excellent, making her a woman full of warmth and brightness. We thoroughly understand why Cyrano, Christian, and De Guiche would all fall under her spell.

Production design in the movie is beautiful, immersing us in its period setting. Wright demonstrates great skill in knowing what to do with his camera, moving in for close-ups during important emotional beats and pulling out when he wants to emphasize the things characters want to say to each other, yet can't. Even when the film briefly steps away from the main story – as in a haunting third-act scene in which soldiers sing about their impending doom in combat – we remain absorbed by the spell it casts.

Cyrano makes a classic tale relevant for our time, despite being set in the past. The story culminates in an ending that ever-so-slightly alters how things go down in Rostand's play, simply because the film needs the focus to be solely on Cyrano and Roxanne. The substance of that ending remains fully intact, sending you away feeling moved. Joe Wright and his marvelous cast have made a stirring version of “Cyrano de Bergerac” that's filled with passion and soul.

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