Tropic Sprockets / Cyrano

By Ian Brockway

Joe Wright handsomely directs “Cyrano,” based on the play by Edmond Rostand and a musical by Erica Schimdt. The film is swift and breezy and though melodramatic with a bit of schmaltz, but Peter Dinklage in the title role has enough earnest heart to make it entertaining.

Cyrano (Dinklage) a man with dwarfism, is a wordsmith. He angers a lead actor who challenges him to a duel, calling him a freak. But Cyrano is quicker on his feet and stabs the actor in self-defense.

The Duke De Guiche (Ben Mendelsohn) is jealous. Sweet bubbly Roxanne (Haley Bennett) is forbidden to have a friendship with Cyrano. But she refuses. Roxanne admits to the earnest Cyrano that she is in love with the handsome Christian (Kelvin Harrison Jr.). Cyrano is crushed, hoping to woo Roxanne but he doesn’t dare admit it.

Most of us know the story as famous as Romeo and Juliet. Cyrano writes love letters covertly for Christian who is a dullard in terms of romance. Roxanne hears the dense Christian in action and she is turned off by his blunt redundancy. Meanwhile, Cyrano suffers in silence. 

Peter Dinklage does a solid job of keeping things going with wit and authenticity while Haley Bennett fills the bill with her buoyant spirit. Though it is a bit Disney-like with heavy drama and goo-goo eyes, the songs are catchy and rousing and Dinklage creates a persona of a verbal Zorro that manages to be fun in spite of its kitsch.

The end scenes possess an old school Gothic film appeal, heavy with dread and doomed romance, recalling a bit of Anne Radcliffe. It is Dinklage himself and his plucky persona that turns this flowery heavily scented romance into somewhat of a spirited adventure. Dinklage’s aura and self-effacing being is magnetic.

Write Ian at ianfree11@yahoo.com

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