REVIEW: Cyrano

The modern push for the movie musical tends to favor a modern sound--songs with undertones of rap or rock. It must have taken director Joe Wright a special kind of tenacity, then, to throw his heart and soul into a musical project (itself a bold undertaking) that surrenders to pure classicalism with his new film Cyrano. Whatever his thought process, it's hard to argue with the results. With its heavenly design, vulnerable performances, and gorgeous musical numbers, the last musical offering of 2021 (or perhaps the first of 2022) is endlessly enchanting.

Cyrano de Bergerac's small stature makes him easy prey for the scorn and ridicule of the high-class Victorian society, but there has yet to be a foe that he could not disarm with his sharp mind and even sharper tongue. The person who could ever truly reject him is Roxanne, his childhood friend for whom he harbors love of the most romantic variety. Too afraid to court Roxanne himself, he chooses to use the handsome but tongue-tied soldier Christian, who has already caught the eye of Roxanne, as a sort of avatar. Cyrano writes love letters to Roxanne under Christian's name, baring his soul to her without ever facing her.

This dynamic almost penalizes poor Christian, whose lack of verbosity apparently makes him an unworthy match for Roxanne. But the story is considerate enough to give the dashing Cyrano a counterpart who well and truly deserves our spite. There are, after all, much worse sins than inarticulateness. Enter Ben Mendelson's De Guiche, a sloven aristocrat who also covets Roxanne. He has neither the intellect of Cyrano nor the touch of human goodness that is so inherent in both Cyrano and Christian, and the sloppiness with which Mendelson portrays him makes it all the more gratifying to hate him.

Meanwhile, there's a fun paradox to Dinklage's performance. His defining characteristic is his sharp mind, yet he has a strong disregard for decorum that contrasts with the highly tailored Victorian-era ecosystem. In a world that drowns itself in fancy clothes and fancy makeup, Cyrano's biting bluntness is refreshing, and it's only compounded by the natural chemistry Dinklage shares with Haley Bennett.

Getting your audience to believe that this world is one where your characters might naturally break into song is the entrance exam for any musical. Not every musical passes. Some are too scared to truly give in to the demands of musical storytelling what with their profound declarations of love and townspeople all coincidentally singing the same song at the same time.

That's not the case with Cyrano. The poetry and witticism that our title character transactions in make up the very fabric of this world. It doesn't read as self-important or showy when (referring to De Guiche) Cyrano declares "To be his enemy is a badge of honor."And I so admire that a band of strapping soldiers can pivot from sword fighting to ballet dancing without blinking.

The movie market has perhaps never been harder for movie musicals, but the reward for the filmmaker daring enough to craft one, and for the viewer willing to indulge one, is elation, reprieve that is sweetest of all when the emotions onscreen are heartwrenching. Thanks for playing the game.

--The Professor

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