The Movie: Cyrano
The Director: Joe Wright
The Cast: Peter Dinklage, Haley Bennett, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Ben Mendelsohn
The Story: Too self-conscious to woo Roxanne himself, wordsmith Cyrano de Bergerac helps young Christian nab her heart through love letters.
The Review:
Some interesting facts about this movie. Director Joe Wright, who is known for his lavish period piece movies, is married to Haley Bennett who stars in the movie and also played the character Roxanne in a 2018 musical production of Edmund Rostand’s 1897 play which took place at a small theater in Connecticut. After watching his wife performing alongside Peter Dinklage, who also played Cyrano in the play, he decided to turn the production into a feature film with the same two leads.
This theatrical production is as bold and lavish as any stage production could ever conjure up and it has the look and textures this type of period piece should have. The production and costume design are both top notch and you can tell that no expense was spared in creating a quality on screen experience. You can tell that Dinklage and Bennett are both very comfortable with the material since they've been performing it for some time on stage. Also on board are Ben Mendelsohn who has mastered the art of the antagonist and Kelvin Harrison Jr. takes another step up in his rise to stardom.
The story of course will seem very familiar as it's been told in so many different forms in cinema over the years with Steve Martin's Roxanne maybe being a prime example as well as Alice Wu's The Half of It which you should definitely check out if you haven't already. I think it's a story a lot of us can relate to as it speaks to our insecurities in some very sincere ways and this version being a musical just adds to the dramatic flair.
The Verdict:
Cyrano is a heart wrenching stage adaptation that takes timeless themes and weaves them together into a musical love story all wrapped into a beautifully filmed period piece. Strong performances from Peter Dinklage and Haley Bennett elevate the experience even further making it a can't miss movie for anyone who ever experiences emotions.
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