69. Cyrano; movie review

 

CYRANO

Cert 12A

123 mins

BBFC advice: Contains moderate violence, bloody images, discrimination, language, threat

"That was sh*te, I should have gone to the pub."

The exasperated chap felt the need to vent in the urinals having clearly been dissatisfied by Joe Wright's Cyrano.

I wan't in a position to reply but when I had finished my business I did wonder what he had expected.

This is a movie based on a French play written in verse, in rhyming couplets of twelve syllables per line.

In other words, it was quite a contrast to Uncharted which was the first of our Valentine's Day double bill.

But I disagree with the man in the toilet - we were entranced by Cyrano and particularly by the brilliant Peter Dinklage.

He plays the title character who matches his unparalleled wit with courage on the battlefield and swordsmanship par excellence. 

Cyrano has loyal friends but fearsome enemies but while he craves the company of the former, he shrugs off the latter with contempt.

Among his best friends is Roxanne (Haley Bennett) with whom he is secretly in love but believes that such a beauty could not possibly fall for him because he perceives himself as ugly.

His worst fears are confirmed when she tells him that she is besotted at first sight with a handsome guard (Kelvin Harrison jr).

The trouble is that while he is eye candy, he doesn't have the intellect to match hers.

Thus, he turns to Cyrano to write her eloquent letters on his behalf.

Our hero does this with gusto because he has to content himself with expressing his love for Roxanne from afar.

Meanwhile, the shadow of a powerful Duke (Ben Mendelsohn) who wants to marry Roxanne hangs over them all.

Mrs W and I found Cyrano to be enthralling. It looks great, the storyline engages, its songs are appealing and most of all there is the entrancing performance of Dinklage.

He has led the fight for diversity in modern cinema and has become one of the finest actors in the world today.

Cyrano might just be his best role yet.

Reasons to watch: Brilliant performance by Peter Dinklage

Reasons to avoid: Some will find it soppy

Laughs: None

Jumps: None

Vomit: None

Nudity: None

Overall rating: 8.5/10

Did you know? Cyrano is based on an 1897 play by the French writer Edmond Rostand called Cyrano de Bergerac. Rostand’s work, in turn, is based on a real-life 17th-century French nobleman, soldier, and writer.

The final word. Peter Dinklage: "A lot of people think my height is the reason Cyrano is insecure about showing his love to Roxanne, but it really isn’t. It’s more universal than a nose or whether someone is shorter than someone else. It’s that feeling we have of being unworthy of love and insecure about who we are." Independent

Share this post