Cyrano review

CYRANO:

PETER DINKLAGE SHINES IN THIS WELL-CRAFTED AND POIGNANT MUSICAL! 

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** out of 4

MGM

Peter Dinklage as Cyrano

 

            Peter Dinklage (Elf, Game of Thrones, Avengers: Infinity War) goes from Tyrion Lannister to a singing Cyrano de Bergerac in Cyrano, the new film from director, Joe Wright (Pride & Prejudice, Atonement, Darkest Hour) and is a musical take on the classic stage play named after the titular character. I should make this perfectly clear, I am not familiar with the original play or story, so I will not be able to compare this screen adaptation to the stage version. 

            I went into this film as a moviegoer and as a Peter Dinklage fan (I mean, it’s a musical starring Dinklage…come on!) with the only knowledge I have being from the trailer, which I saw in theaters several times, so I got the basic gist of it. For a movie in which I was literally the only person in the theater (There were more people when I saw Cats…think about that for a moment!), I had a really good time with this film. 

            It isn’t a perfect film, and you could make the argument that Steven Spielberg’s version of West Side Story is the far superior musical out in theaters right now, but I still think a lot of really good things came together to make this musical entertaining and engaging. The songs and musical numbers are top notch and lively, but they never overshadow the heavier and more dramatic moments, the costume design is amazing, the plot, while familiar does a unique take on the love-triangle trope, and Peter Dinklage giving a million percent from start to finish.  

            The film follows Cyrano de Bergerac (Dinklage), a man who stuns with his powerful wordplay and skillful swordplay, but due to his short appearance, he’s convinced that he is not worthy of the love of his longtime friend, Roxanne (Haley Bennett-The Magnificent Seven (2016), The Girl on the Train, Thank You for Your Service), who has fallen in love with someone else. The other man is Christian de Neuvillette (Kelvin Harrison Jr.-12 Years a Slave, It Comes at Night, The Trial of the Chicago 7) and though Cyrano understands his social status and physical appearance would keep them forever apart, he offers his poetry skills to Christian as an effort to bring him and Roxanne together. 

            The film also stars also stars Ben Mendelsohn (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Ready Player One, Marvel Cinematic Universe) as De Guiche and Bashir Salahuddin (Snatched, A Simple Favor, Marriage Story) as Le Bret. 

            Overall, Cyrano may not be a game-changing musical or one that will appeal to everyone, but those familiar with the story or anyone who was intrigued by the trailer and the novelty of Peter Dinklage starring in a musical (like I was), this is a very entertaining and beautifully told, albeit uneven film. For the most part, I was completely engrossed in the story, songs, dancing, and characters, but I felt the sequence where Cyrano and Christian are drafted into a war goes on for a bit too long and I started to slightly check-out, however it brought me back shortly afterwards and there were a couple of effective moments during it, I just thought it could have been trimmed down a little. 

            One of the things I really appreciate about this film is while there is technically a love-triangle, they don’t do the whole bit where the two men become bitter rivals and Christian is made out to be the bad guy. They could have easily done that, but both Cyrano and Christian understand how complicated love is and they try to help each other out with it. 

Even when Christian discovers that Cyrano is in love with Roxanne, they don’t do the misunderstanding cliché, which I thought they were going to do at first. However, instead of doing the entire routine where they mope and dope for most of the remaining runtime, it’s literally just one scene and it’s quickly resolved. 

            Despite the original play not being a musical, I’m relieved the songs and musical numbers weren’t an afterthought, all of them move the story along, never distract from the plot or characters, and all of them are performed extremely well. Some of my favorites include both versions of Someone to Say (which was the song that plays in the trailer) and this solo by Dinklage where he’s singing about his height and appearance, which is an absolute delight. 

            Let’s finally talk about Peter Dinklage…he is the best thing in the movie! From the way he speaks to his mannerisms, singing voice, and his chemistry with Christian as well as his determination to confess his love to Roxanne, while also supporting Christian’s love for the same woman, you want to see him get the girl and because his character is an extremely flawed individual it makes it all the more compelling and powerful, Dinklage plays the role incredibly well and I consider it to be one of the most overlooked performances of the year. 

            If you’re looking for an entertaining musical and have already seen West Side Story, I’d recommend checking out this version of Cyrano. I can’t promise a masterpiece, but if you want an interesting twist on a classic story with great acting, energetic musical numbers, and hard-hitting drama, this is definitely one to experience for yourself.