Cyrano

Ten Second Review: Enjoyment of this one is going to run a knife edge on whether you consider it sincere or tongue in cheek, and whether you like the side you fell on.

I feel as though I may well be an aficionado on Cyrano. 

I was exposed to the story at a young age when my mum sat me in front of the Steve Martin classic, Roxanne. From there I read the book, watched the Gérard Depardieu version and most recently saw the James McAvoy version. As silly as some versions may be, I love the story of Cyrano de Bergerac. This latest version follows in the same plot footsteps as those that came before.

Cyrano is a talented wordsmith, a gifted fighter and leader of his guard troupe. He is in love with his long time friend, Roxanne, but doubts she could ever love him back. She instead has her eyes set on the newest guard recruit, the beautiful Christian. He is gifted in the face, but less so with words so Cyrano agrees to help him woo Roxanne with letters. Between Cyrano’s poetry and Christian’s looks, they are sure to win her heart…

This really is a review of two questions. Those two question are less so about quality and more about preference.

1) Is what they went for campy or sincere? 

2) Do like whichever option you chose for the first question?

If this is intended to be a campy take on Cyrano; music good enough to be taken seriously but ridiculous in content, staging and choreography that looks beautiful but when examined is actually quite silly etc, then Cyrano is perfect. I love that sort of thing! It perfectly understands it’s medium and while you could not suggest it’s not well made, it’s amusing intentional missing off the mark makes it’s a joy to watch.

However, if it’s done with complete sincerity, it has flaws to answer for. This flaw would mainly be scripting and lyricism, where characters deliver lines that feel like an algorithm generated them. It should be restated, if you love overt sincerity, you may still love it, but I feel as though it lacked the wordsmithing and word play I would personally want.

Either way, it can’t be denied that the cast play their roles in what is essentially a filmed play, very well. They are that touch overdramatic that you expect from both a play and a musical (something that once again sells the camp or sincerity depending on where you landed).

The staging looks great and at points the cinematography puts other films to shame. It has a sense of scale in some scenes and a palpable intimacy in others and that juxtaposition is done really well.

There is a few scenes towards the end set at war that I would mark as a particular highlight. They feel in many ways detached from the rest of the film, and they capture a completely different tone that actually made me want more from that section.

I would also note Haley Bennetts acting as a little weak but this may be because of where I have landed on the camp vs sincere question and the fact she’s playing across from Dinklage who nails his part.

I would say if you like camp fun this is great but I would not skip a beat if a person said that they loved it for it’s sincerity. It really is a tale of preference. My mum and I giggled our way through, the girl next to be sobbed (and I mean sobbed) for the last 45 minutes. It may not be worth the cinema trip but it is worth the Sunday afternoon treatment if you’re in the perfect mood for it.