‘Cyrano’ review: Classic story turned into a mopey musical

Each time the characters in “Cyrano” started to sing, I emphatically begged them to cease. The clunky lyrics, the whiny tone, the OK voices — maddening. However as a result of it's a film, the actors didn’t hear. They simply moaned and wailed some extra.


film overview


CYRANO

Working time: 124 minutes. Rated PG-13 (some sturdy violence, thematic and suggestive materials, and transient language). In theaters.

The moody songs by the band the Nationwide break Edmond Rostand’s story, “Cyrano de Bergerac,” a basic on par with Shakespeare’s performs however with an unmistakably French, revolutionary spirit. The story defines what it's to be sweeping.

The unique play a couple of gifted swordsman-poet with an enormous schnoz, has humor, romance, motion and pathos. The brand new musical movie, starring Peter Dinklage of “Sport of Thrones” because the title character, nevertheless, leans an excessive amount of on blubbery emotion, and the entire time you are feeling like a dad or mum being yelled at by your hormonal teen.

“Cyrano” suffers from precisely the identical issues as the 2019 off-Broadway musical it’s based mostly on. Again then I known as the present, which additionally starred Dinklage, “black eyeliner set to music.” That’s nonetheless true, solely now it’s black eyeliner set to music with lavish units and costumes.

So, it’s completely terrific in the event you press “mute.” 

Cyrano (Peter Dinklage, right) secretly loves. Roxanne (Haley Bennett) in "Cyrano."
Cyrano (Peter Dinklage, proper) secretly loves Roxanne (Haley Bennett) in “Cyrano.”
AP

“Cyrano” is a love story you’ve already seen even in the event you don’t notice you may have. It’s a couple of French poet who doesn’t appear to be all people else (right here, the massive nostril is modified to the character being a bit individual) but falls in love with the attractive Roxanne (Haley Bennett). That’s powerful, as a result of not solely is she being courted by the rich, menacing De Guiche (Ben Mendelsohn), however she can be infatuated with younger, sizzling, silly Christian (Kelvin Harrison Jr.).

So, to be nearer to her, Cyrano feeds love poems and phrases to Christian for Roxanne, so she will fall in love with him by pretty-boy proxy.

The story has been tailored numerous occasions — the film “Roxanne,” an episode of “The Brady Bunch,” the YA comedy “Sierra Burgess Is a Loser,” a 1973 Broadway musical starring Christopher Plummer, amongst others.

Kelvin Harris Jr. as Christian.
Kelvin Harrison Jr. as Christian in director Joe Wright’s “Cyrano.”
AP

The brand new film, directed by Joe Wright and written by Dinklage’s spouse Erica Schmidt, ranks with probably the most lifeless variations. Even the swishy dances are a downer.

Dinklage may sooner or later make a really high-quality Cyrano in a model with out singing and extra of the humor that made his Tyrion Lannister on “Video games of Thrones” a fan favourite. You robotically love him, even right here, however his materials jumps the gun on the disappointment. The film performs like a two-hour finish scene.

Bennett’s Roxanne is elegant, if overly genteel, and her singing voice as recorded doesn’t match the actress very properly. Consider it like if Kristin Chenoweth’s singing appeared like Cher.

Harrison Jr. is put in a tricky spot, because the title character is much less humorous than ordinary. Christian will get saddled with that accountability, however it doesn’t sit as properly on a puppy-dog dunce.

Most irritating of all is that Glen Hansard, who wrote and starred within the humorous and romantic “As soon as,” performs Guard No. 1. The man who gained an Oscar for the tune “Falling Slowly” is Guard No. 1! I’d prefer to see his “Cyrano” musical as a substitute.

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