Cyrano (2021)

IMDb plot summary: Too self-conscious to woo Roxanne himself, wordsmith Cyrano de Bergerac helps young Christian nab her heart through love letters.

Directed by Joe Wright. Starring Peter Dinklage, Haley Bennett, Ben Mendelsohn, and Kelvin Harrison Jr.

Cyrano is the latest film take on Edmond Rostand's classic play Cyrano de Bergerac. This version is directed by Joe Wright, stars Peter Dinklage and Haley Bennett, and includes songs by members of the band The National. For anyone who doesn't know the story, Cyrano is an extraordinarily witty but classically unattractive man (in the play he has an absurdly long nose; this version leans into Dinklage's height as his obstacle) who ends up working with an attractive but dull-witted man in his regiment to help him win over the beautiful woman they're both in love with. It's a complicated plot but one of my very favorite plays, and this story gets most of it right. The leads have really beautiful chemistry, and Dinklage is a stunning Cyrano, encompassing all at once the humor, the tragedy, and the arrogance of the character. Where it falls flat is the music. I've long held the opinion that the many attempted musical adaptations of Cyrano fall short because the original Rostand poetry is so stunning that your lyrics had BETTER measure up, and they usually don't, and that's the case here. Cyrano is far less eloquent in song than he is in prose, and the last thing you want is for your emotional stakes to go DOWN when the music starts. It'd be a great adaptation without the songs, it's still a pretty decent one with.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Cyrano > Hustle & Flow

Cyrano > Chronicle

Cyrano < Crimes and Misdemeanors

Cyrano < Clue

Cyrano < Never Rarely Sometimes Always

Cyrano > Dust

Cyrano < Role Models

Cyrano > The Beauty Inside

Cyrano > Detroit

Cyrano > The Impostors

Cyrano > Twins

Cyrano > The Tale of Princess Kaguya

Final spot: #790 out of 3484, or 77%.