Roxanne
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Movie Reviews of Roxanne
Movie Review: "When you smell the flowers, are they afraid?"
Summary: 5 Stars
C.D. Bales (Steve Martin) is an erudite small-town fire chief, who is cursed with an abnormally huge nose. He doesn't gladly suffer fools who make the mistake of commenting on his proboscis. One evening, he meets the beautiful, naked astronomer Roxanne (Daryl Hannah), who has been locked out of her house and bathrobe. C.D. falls in love and Roxanne falls into feelings of friendship. The sexy, sarcastic stargazer, instead, has a crush on new hunky firefighter Chris (Rick Rossovich). It turns out that Chris is also interested but becomes very nervous in her presence. He turns to C.D., who reluctantly helps him woo the girl of both their dreams. C.D. composes an intoxicating, soulful love letter, which enables Chris to win the girl. But how long can C.D. keep a rein on his true feelings for Roxanne? The original Cyrano de Bergerac, which this movie is based on, doesn't end on a happy note. Will this version?
Yes, this is my favorite Steve Martin film of all time (a close second being L.A. Story). It's romantic, thoughtful, clever and hilarious, with probably one of the better portrayals of unrequited love I've seen in pictures. The bar scene, where C.D. faces down an insulting drunk, is an instant classic. Another gem is C.D, in his guise as Chris, courting Roxanne beneath her window. Martin, who wrote the screenplay, is charming and earnest and puts his heart and soul in C.D. Bales; he makes you root wholeheartedly for him. Lovely Daryl Hannah has never been better or looked more ravishing, in her embodiment of the sexy, intelligent Roxanne Kowalski. Rick Rossovich is so good as the clueless, dimwitted Chris that I don't know if he'll ever be able to live the role down.
Roxanne is a sweet little movie, replete with exquisite physical comedy and heady wit, with a great cast of supporting characters (Shelley Duvall, John Kapelos, Michael J. Pollard, etc). Part of the movie's charm is the way it mines the hapless volunteer firefighters' ineptness for goodnatured, slapstick humor. Roxanne incorporates its storyline seamlessly into the charming small town backdrop, lending a quaint, more intimate feel to the picture. If you haven't seen this one yet, do yourself a favor, and I promise: your heart will ache and maybe even break, but in a good way.
Movie Review: Romantic Comedies Don't Come Much Better
Summary: 5 Stars
"Roxanne," a 1987 film written by, and starring, the comic genius Steve Martin is yet another film from the fertile 1980's that more people should be happy to know. It's based on the 100-year old French play "Cyrano de Bergerac," by Edmond Rostand. And it costars the long-legged blonde Daryl Hannah, makes good use of Shelley Duvall, Fred Willard, and Michael J. Pollard in supporting roles, was directed by the talented Australian Fred Schepisi. It's set, supposedly, in a pretty Oregon skiing town; actually filmed in a pretty Canadian town; the cinematography presents us with many green and charming vistas.
Its plot follows the original. C.D.(Charlie) Bales (Martin), (note he's got the same initials as the original), is the intelligent, engaging fire chief of the small town; he's got quite a lot going for him, but also, unfortunately, an extremely prominent nose. But he's getting alone fine until astronomy student Roxanne (Hannah) comes to town on a cheap summer sublet. She falls for one of Bales's employees, dumb but handsome Chris (Rick Rossovich) in a big way; but, fortunately, she doesn't really go for dumb. Her friend Dixie (Duvall), tells her she wants Chris's looks with Charlie's brains. And, for a while, that's what she gets, as Charlie writes Chris's love letters and dictates his dialogue.
Many critics have lauded Martin's extraordinary gift for physical comedy, but you've got to see it to believe it. He opens the movie with an energetic strut across town, then has a wonderfully choreographed fight with two rude young male tourists: his tennis racket against their ski poles. He also spends a lot of time climbing up and around houses and trees; and falls down from a tree, claiming he was abducted by aliens, as per a puzzling scene in the original play. The movie also gets a gratifying amount of mileage out of Charlie's fire department: there aren't too many movies that give the viewer any feel for what a character supposedly does to make a living. One criticism: Dixie is not as young or beautiful as Roxanne, but does that mean she had to be turned into an asexual auntie type? Oh well. Romantic comedies don't come much better than this.
Movie Review: Beautiful locale, beautiful love story, lovely Daryl
Summary: 5 Stars
Of recent updatings of CYRANO DE BERGERAC, this one is one of the best, and is certainly the funniest. Although THE TRUTH ABOUT CATS AND DOGS has a soft spot in my heart, this version is by far funnier and more romantic. The other film focuses more on Janeane Garofalo's feelings of inferiority compared to Uma Thurman, and although funny, doesn't strive for the laughs like Roxanne does. Also, with apologies to Ben Chaplin, he is hardly as adorable as Daryl Hannah. She has never been lovelier than in this film.This is also probably my favorite Steve Martin film. Despite his surreal schnoggin, he manages to inject his character with warmth, character, and lovability. You like him so much that you find it believable when he and Roxanne end up together at the end. (Interestingly, both this and the Janeane Garofalo film end happily, unlike the Rostand play.) The long scene in which a bar patron insults his nose, and he humiliates the man by coming up with 20 better and vastly funnier insults (this "Cyrano" is not merely a highly capable street fighter, but equally adept at verbal sparring) is easily the highpoint of the film. Even if I have seen the film recently, if in channel flipping I see the movie playing and that it hasn't reached this part of the film, I will wait and watch it.
One reviewer below mentioned the town being dull. I cannot agree. I think the physical beauty of the place stuns most viewers. If I knew I could find a job there, I'd move there tomorrow. The locale definitely adds measurably to the enjoyment of the film.
I have only two negative comments to make on the movie. First, I think they overdid it on Steve Martin's nose. It is impossible to imagine that anyone with a nose that long would not have had surgery on it, and there isn't any believable medical reason to believe the surgery couldn't be performed. Second, the musical soundtrack really sounds dated. The Kenny G. sound today just hasn't stood the test of time, so that the soundtrack reminds one more of elevator music or at best "Lite FM" than anything.
Still, if one can get past the music, this remains one of the most enjoyable romantic comedies of recent years.
Movie Review: Best one in the genre.
Summary: 5 Stars
I've just added this classic to my DVD library. Although the DVD itself is not that cool (no such special features as commentaries, cast & crew bios, production notes etc...), it deserves as cherished a place in my library as the place "Roxanne" settled in my heart. For the two last decades Hollywood had some rising stars in the category of physical comedy (Ben Stiller, Adam Sandler, Jim Carrey, the Wayans brothers...) but none of them has made a movie that got me laugh so hard while capturing my heart so tenderly at the same time as Steve Martin did with "Roxanne". Was it because those new actors couldn't work out something creative like "the 20 nose jokes", or was it because they just needed better scripts to bolster their talents? I found it amazing that Steve Martin decided to be the screenplay writer himself and somehow managed to convert the concept of a French Renaissance play -- "Cyrano de Bergerac" -- to this modern time comedy and turned its tragic conclusion into a happy ending. Apart from the "nose jokes", he gave us so many fun lines to enjoy and remember. And apart from Martin, all other actors also gave their best performances, and best lines too: Shelley Duvall's simple riddle, Daryl Hannah's "ironic" refusal of a coat, Rick Rossovitch's "extemporaneous" night and "pillow fluffing" request..., and, oh yeah, the "earn more sessions by sleeving" line... Well, all I want to say is, hurry up, add this movie to your library so your family and friends could share your joy. We all need this kind of joy in a world where "all the concepts of beauty have been programmed by TV's and magazines" -- to quote Tony Robbins from "Shallow Hal". Now that being said, please bear with one more humble opinion of mine: After "Roxanne", I only found "Shallow Hal" as a good one in the genre. Hope it won't be the last.Movie Review: One of the best Steve Martin films
Summary: 5 Stars
Steve Martin's LA Story and the remarkable Roxanne have to be the two best films from his huge body of work.
Having penned the screenplay, Martin cleverly adapts the Cyrano De Bergerac tale to a modern setting, however, manages to maintain the original story line and large personality of Cyrano in the character of C.D. Bales, a fire chief of a beautiful small town in the mountains of British Colombia.
C.D. Bales is an educated, romantic and modern swashbuckling man who can street fight and win with style, possess a sharp wit, can swing and climb rooftops with the agility of a cat and write poetry and love letters that will make any woman swoon with delight. Unfortunately, Bales like De Bergerac, has a nose the size of a small tree, resulting in his shyness in the matters of love.
C.D. falls head over heels for Roxanne, a visiting astronomer with alluring beauty and a keen mind but feels his appearance, a nose the size of Kansas, will prevent any relationship.
A handsome man, Chris, (Rick Rossovich) joins the fire station to help train the volunteer crew of town misfits but cannot talk to women. Bales' woos Roxanne through Chris with love letters and poetry, thus Chris wins her heart. This unusual situation turns complicated, (similar to De Bergerac) when the masquerade starts to come undone to hilarious results.
Australian director, Fred Schepisi, brings Martin's adaptation of De Bergerac together in an entertaining modern romantic comedy that even today, despite the dated soundtrack, continues to be funny.
Some movies deserve only to be seen once though Roxanne can be pulled from the cabinet and viewed time and again as it remains a classic tale of the 80's & the 18th century.