Cyrano de Bergerac (2008)

One of the greatest love stories ever, destroyed by one person. Most of the cast is quite good. Daniel Sunjata's Christian is sufficiently fluffy for us to believe his character. Kevin Kline, although he occasionally appears to be uncharacteristically (for Cyrano) mocking himself, is very charming in the title role. The translation used is not my personal favorite, and some of my favorite monologues have been chopped in half, but the overall beauty of the story and the language is still kept intact. However, the instant Jennifer Garner opens her mouth, all illusion is lost. She speaks all her lines as an obvious theater "newb," making bizarre theatrical gestures that do not in the least complement the lines, and overenunciating each word with the painstaking awkwardness of someone in a middle school production. Her voice is distractingly unsuited to the classical poetic sound of the story. She may be able to pass as an actress on screen, but on stage, where all camera magic and re-takes are stripped away, she is painfully exposed as having very little to offer. There is no reason either Christian or Cyrano should pine for the love of this bizarre, flailing Roxanne who insert soap opera inflections into each line. If only someone more able had been cast in this role, this would have been a very rewatchable version of my beloved story. 2 stars.