Review: Cyrano (2021)

Cyrano

Rating

Director

Joe Wright

Screenplay

Erica Schmidt (Play: Edmond Rostand)

Length

2h 4m

Starring

Peter Dinklage, Haley Bennett, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Ben Mendelsohn, Monica Dolan, Bashir Salahuddin

MPAA Rating

PG-13

Original Preview

Click Here

Buy/Rent Movie

Soundtrack

Poster

Review

Joe Wright’s directorial style is unique enough to make him one of the more compelling auteurs in modern cinema. It’s also familiar enough to make his films accessible to a wide array of filmgoers. Cyrano is another fascinating effort from the Atonement filmmaker, although it doesn’t quite fit amongst his best works.

Having explored a theatrical motif with his 2012 film Anna Karenina, it’s unsurprising to see him dip into the well again for this period musical drama. The story of Cyrano de Bergerac is that of a malformed and socially unacceptable poet who helps an attractive milquetoast woo the woman he loves. Herein, Cyrano is played by the dependably marvelous Peter Dinklage and the love of his life, Roxanne, is embodied by the affable Haley Bennett. Kelvin Harrison Jr. takes on the role of her appealing suiter Christian while the role of the man who controls her financial destiny, De Guiche, is portrayed by Ben Mendelsohn. They are all superb with Bashir Salahuddin rounding out the cast list as the captain of the guard without much to do.

Although most will be familiar with Dinklage’s work from the popular television fantasy series Game of Thrones, he and the entire cast have had long and admirable careers as actors and each brings their copious talents to bear on roles that have been done countless times before, but seldom better. Dinklage really came to the fore with his performance in The Station Agent and his career has grown by leaps and bounds since. Cyrano is his best screen performance to date, giving Cyrano the kind of humanity and emotional resonance the tragic figure needs while nailing his rich and poetic dialogue, especially in the opening segment set in the Parisian theater where he taunts a vain, aging thespian for being past his prime. That Dinklage isn’t quite the gifted singer only occasionally matters.

Unlike recent years where an attempt was made to revitalize the musical, 2021 is filled to the brim with acclaimed song-and-dance spectacles. While the likes of In the Heights and West Side Story are firmly rooted in the Broadway stage from which they originated, Cyrano does things few musicals have done, including the three prior stage musical adaptations that are unrelated to this film. While the songs aren’t filled with bountiful, soaring arrangements, the dance numbers are graceful and elegant, even if they feel unique within the context of the film. The various dance sequences are placed in every day settings, such as a fencing lesson among the guardsmen or bakers plying their trade. The people who dance aren’t the leads, but background figures bringing to life the medieval environs in which our characters exist. They are some beautiful sequences that catch you off guard on each occasion and are ultimately welcome each time.

Wright has crafted something that stands out amongst its fellows in the most wonderful and complex ways. The audience is treated to a musical extravaganza that isn’t quite as boisterous and expansive as some of his prior films, sticking to photographic hues that are at times washed out and bitter. It’s a bleak and challenging time to be alive and Wright captures this almost imperceptibly. The audience isn’t bludgeoned with the hard times of Medieval Europe, but they feel that environment with every frame.

Cyrano may not be the kind of musical you’ll be humming or dancing along with, but it’s a well crafted piece of entertainment that takes notable risks without requiring that we unabashedly love it. Yet, it’s easy to feel that way about the majority of the film even if it isn’t entirely perfect.

Oscar Prospects

Probables: Actor (Peter Dinklage)
Potentials: Picture, Production Design, Costume Design, Makeup & Hairstyling, Sound
Unlikelies: Actress (Haley Bennett), Supporting Actor (Kelvin Harrison Jr., Ben Mendelsohn), Directing (Joe Wright), Adapted Screenplay, Original Score, Film Editing, Cinematography