Cyrano Review
7/10
There is much to love about this new musical adaptation of the classic story Cyrano De Bergerac. The performances are fantastic, the direction is stellar, and the film has a wonderful lush cinematic feel. Peter Dinklage is brilliant as Cyrano. He completely owns the character and enraptures attention with his presence. Haley Bennett is radiant and magnetic as Roxanne. Vocally, she has the strongest voice. (Side note: I highly recommend the film Swallow. That is another exceptional performance of hers.) Kelvin Harrison Jr. is fantastic as Christian. He has a heartfelt sincerity that comes across in every frame. I didn’t recognize Ben Mendelsohn as the Duke for a fair portion of the film. He conveys so much bitter anger in his performance.
With all that said you would think I would adore this film. I wish I could, but there is one major element holding it back. There are many different approaches to the songs in a musical. When it comes to films with a more pop-inspired style you either lean into the hook-heavy tunes like the magnificent Sing Street or strip them back and make them raw like in the fantastic Once. Musicals with a more orchestral focus should be melodic and wondrous. It should feel like the song scenes are elevated by the dialogue being sung.
At no point during these sequences should you ever start to ask yourself why they are being performed in the musical format rather than just spoken normally. The songs should be an integral seamless river flowing through the narrative. If Cyrano achieved this, it could have been one of the greats. The director Joe Wright has made multiple films I enjoyed a lot. When Wright is at his best, he has the remarkable ability to merge a traditional story with a sumptuous visual flair. He can be stylized but never self-indulgent, like in the theater set adaptation of Anna Karenina, a magnificent film that I believe is underappreciated.
He is a perfect fit for the Cyrano story. Unfortunately, the songs let the film down. Multiple members of the band The National were involved in the soundtrack. The score is by Bryce and Aaron Dessner and lyrics by the band’s lead singer Matt Berninger alongside Carin Besser. I have been a fan of the band since their album Alligator in 2005. Their music is introspective but evocative and emotional, the sounds of our innermost turbulence. Their album High Violet especially is one of my favorites.
Cyrano started life as a small 10-person musical at the Goodspeed in Chester, Connecticut adapted and directed by Erica Schmidt. Dinklage and Bennett were in that original incarnation of the story. I can see it working well on a scaled-down stage. The intimacy and intensity of the music in that setting could have been quite enthralling. It shows the true power of the material that it can be reinterpreted in so many ways and still connect with an audience today. Unfortunately, their music does not translate well to the film’s songs. The orchestral arrangements and instrumentals are so sparse they do not resonate. The vocals dominate the soundscape so much to the point where I didn’t even notice them.
There are two songs that I thought were the best. “Overcome” is a sweet and achingly romantic ballad sung by Dinklage and Bennett. That is one of the most enchanting scenes in the film. Christian is trying to profess his love to Roxanne but is stumbling over his words. So, Cyrano hides nearby and feeds him the poetic words to use to make her heart flutter. Eventually, Cyrano himself starts talking loud enough for her to hear, but he manages to convince her that it is still Christian speaking. He speaks directly to her with Christian as an emotional conduit. Soon they start singing together and their voices soar together.
These are the moments that transcend the film’s flaws and make me feel completely immersed in the magic of the story. The best song from the film is “Wherever I Fall.” It is a great tragic ballad that adds so much pain and sorrow to the scene. Plus, it has a cameo from one of my favorite current songwriters, Glen Hansard. To be honest, I think the songs would have been much better if he had written them. I don’t usually put so much emphasis on a negative aspect of a film, but I couldn’t help it with this one. It’s so frustrating to see the greatness Cyrano could have achieved.
It is one of the most iconic romantic stories ever told: Christian, a young soldier, falls for Roxanne, but cannot express his feelings towards her. So, he enlists the help of a swashbuckling poet, Cyrano De Bergerac, to write letters to her from him, the twist of course being that Cyrano has deep feelings for her already. One change the film makes from the source material is the reason Cyrano is mocked by people. In the play, he has a grotesque nose which makes him feel insecure about himself. In the film, he is self-conscious about his height. This update strengthened his character and made him more interesting.
Dinklage has the charm and swagger the role requires, but he also carries the weight of his inner torment and love for Roxanne. I have been a fan of Dinklage since seeing him in The Station Agent, so I’m glad to see him in a major role like this. The film itself does an admirable job adapting the story. Kelvin Harrison Jr.’s plight feels real and Cyrano’s chemistry with Roxanne is palpable and sincere. When the film reaches the soulful crescendo, it becomes quite powerful. Some moments grip your heart and ascend the film close to greatness.
Those snapshots of beauty are drowned out by the lack of connection I felt to the music. Bryce and Aaron Dessner have done good work on other films. Their sparse score in C’mon C’mon from this year is a good example of when their music works. It’s especially odd that the score turned out this way considering how many times Joe Wright has worked with the composer Dario Marianelli. A score by him combined with songs by Glen Hansard and Marianelli could have produced a modern classic.
It’s a conundrum, trying to modernize such an iconic tale. If you make a film that is too traditional it could risk coming across as too stodgy and formal. Going too far in the opposite direction could derail into fluff territory. Wright has navigated these tricky seas multiple times before. It’s a shame that this version of Cyrano is making me feel so conflicted. There are many aspects of the film that are wonderful and rapturous. Cyrano’s regrets over not being able to tell Roxanne how he feels is anguish many of us can empathize with. As it is, the film is a solid adaptation with incandescent moments that too often crash land.
