Cyrano (2021) User Reviews

Dinklage Is Another Actor I'll Watch Recite The Phone Book

[boblipton · 7/10 · 26 February 2022]

Rostand's play is a durable one, even if it does seem implausible.... but in drawing the character of Cyrano de Bergerac, was accurate. De Bergerac was a French officer with an enormous nose, who wrote excellent poetry, dramas, and even a novel about a trip to the moon. I don't know how accurate the story of his duelling ten people in one night was, but no one ever called him a liar on it while he lived.

In casting Peter Dinklage as Cyrano -- without the nose -- director Joe Wright has expanded the character's touchy honor to all the physical slurs people undergo; that's not a bad idea. Dinklage is a problematic choice, given that someone his size would not have been enlisted in the French Army in this period. Once, however, you accept this, his expressive features reveal everything about the character. Haley Bennett as Roxanne is enchanting, and Kelvin Harrison Jr. As Christian is a kindly if slow-witted young fellow: a perfect tenor for Grand Opera.

I'm not fond of the music for the songs, which seem to be largely recitative, and only one song had first-class lyrics: "Where I Fall". Nonetheless, Wright and his cameraman, Seamus McGarvey, understand that the songs in a musical are about what's going on inside the performers' heads, and use a highly mobile camera to obliterate the space. In between those, they find a lot of beautiful scenes to shoot, looking like ancien regime paintings. It's not the best take I've seen; that would be the one with Gérard Depardieu. But this is a very good one too.

My ears.... My poor ears.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 6/10 · 25 February 2022]

Peter Dinklage, awesome actor, as for singing....all I could compare it to, is Pierce Brosnan in Mama Mia.

I feel a bit of a fraud seeing this, as I'm not a fan of musicals, and I wasn't aware that this was a musical, until the first number. For me, the music was poor, and actually detracted from the film.

Visually, amazing, the sets and costumes were the best element, it looked phenomenal.

Acting, very good, it is Dinklage who impressed me the most.

If you're expecting something along the lines of Les miserables, I fear you may be a little disappointed.

I'm glad I went to see it, it's not a film I'd want to watch again. 6/10.

en garde

[ferguson-6 · 7/10 · 31 December 2021]

Greetings again from the darkness. Filmmaker Joe Wright has proven how adeptly he can re-make a classic love story. You'll likely agree if you've seen his versions of ANNA KARENINA (2012) and/or PRIDE AND PREJUDICE (2005), which are in addition to his best film (also a love story), ATONEMENT (2007). Working from the terrific script Erica Schmidt adapted from Edmond Rostand's 1897 play, Wright delivers a musical version of Cyrano de Bergerac that delivers all of the intended "panache" of the original tragic-romance.

Peter Dinklage (THE STATION AGENT, 2003) stars as Cyrano, a master swordsman and orator who entertains with words that cut like a surgeon's scalpel ... except when he's weaponizing those words for love. Haley Bennett (SWALLOW, 2019) plays Roxanne, the secret object of Cyrano's desire, though she views him as but a close friend and confidant. Instead, her gaze is upon the newly arrived Christian (Kelvin Harrison Jr), a virile and handsome man lacking the charisma and common sense required to court Roxanne. This dilemma lends itself to the melding of Cyrano's word being delivered by the preferable packaging of Christian.

Rather than Cyrano's oversized nose, the film uses Mr. Dinklage's diminutive stature and feelings of unworthiness of Roxanne's affections to create the division, and yet it's the musical aspect that takes a bit of getting used to. Dinklage excels in the film's best sequence, as early on he humiliates a poor stage actor, a rebellious act that ends in a duel ... entertaining for the play's audience as well as us as viewers. It's the connection between Cyrano and Christian that leaves us missing the good stuff. It all happens quickly and efficiently, rather than a slow transition from foes to partners. The film is at its best when Cyrano's loneliness is at the forefront ... Dinklage excels in these scenes. In fact, Wright and the actors (Dinklage and Bennett) nail the ending which packs the punch Rostand intended.

Mr. Dinklage has long been married to the film's screenwriter Erica Schmidt, and Ms. Bennett and director Wright have a daughter together. These ties may have contributed to the effectiveness of the best scenes, though we do wish Ben Mendolsohn (as De Guiche) had a bit more screen time. The three most well-known film versions are CYRANO DE BERGERAC (1950) starring Jose Ferrer, ROXANNE (1987) starring Steve Martin, and CYRANO DE BERGERAC (1990) starring Gerard Depardieu. Wright's latest version is set apart with the musical aspect, and certainly the Dinklage performance ranks amongst the best. Edmond Rostand's play was a fictionalized version of the life of Savinien de Cyrano de Bergerac (1619-1655), but the romance, ego, and self-doubt applies to all eras.

Peter Dinklage makes a wonderful Cyrano.

[TxMike · 7 June 2022]

This movie is an adaptation from the stage musical, which itself was an adaptation of the 1897 original stories based on a the real person, Cyrano de Bergerac, who was a French poet and duelist from the 17th Century.

In the other productions of Cyrano (including Steve Martin's 1987 'Roxanne') he was depicted with an unusually large nose, that was why he was considered not handsome. In this one Cyrano is a very small person, yet fierce and an expert with the sword.

This production is a musical but without trained singers. Yet each one, including Dinklage, delivers adequate and believable vocals. I know some criticize the movie for that but to me it all makes it more realistic.

So there isn't much new about the way this movie depicts the Cyrano story, but it is a fine production and enjoyable especially for those who aren't highly familiar with the story, of an intelligent but unattractive poet and swordsman who loves Roxanne so much he will even help the man she admires win her affections.

I can't say enough about the performance Dinklage gives. I was already a fan from a number of other roles but he is just wonderful in this role.

My wife and I watched it at home on BluRay from our public library. That is, until she fell asleep halfway through and went to bed. Not the movie's fault, she was tired. :-)

I really wanted to like this

[bowieec · 6/10 · 13 January 2022]

I'm a big fan of both Peter Dinklage and Ben Mendelssohn. Peter Dinklage simply cannot sing. Unfortunately, that fact plays prominently into a musical when the person who cannot sing is the lead. It took away my attention from pretty much anything else on the screen whenever he would sing. Haley Bennett as Roxanne was charming in the role and has a beautiful singing voice. Also, strangely, at a meandering 2 hours, the ending still felt rushed. I watched it on an industry streaming screener. Perhaps on the big screen it plays better.

Peter Dinklage should win Best Actor

[stewiec85 · 7/10 · 19 December 2021]

Watching Peter Dinklage in this performance is like walking into a decent play and he captivates me to make me stay longer til the end. Seeing his talents and personal struggles is just a treat to watch. So I say if Dinklage gets nominated I hope he wins making history as the first dwarf to win an Oscar. Technically he'll be the second dwarf actor to be nominated for an Oscar since Michael Dunn of Ship of Fools (1965) but let's hope the academy actually chooses well but I won't hold my breath bc the academy has a tendency to miss great performances or choose the wrong winners. Let's hope I say and praise Dinklage for his performance.

Dinklage's gut-wrenching performance makes it watchable!

[nidhunmoviebuff · 7/10 · 21 January 2022]

The legendary 1897 play "Cyrano de Bergerac" by celebrated French playwright Edmond Rostand has been immortalized on stage and on-screen several times with 1951's Oscar-winning adaptation of the same name even winning Jose Ferrer the Oscar Award for Best Actor. The story and the characters are such a part of pop culture that we still refer to a person paid to write someone's online dating profile to make their search for a partner more successful, a "Cyrano".

In the film, director Joe Wright deftly uses Emmy and Golden Globe-winning actor Peter Dinklage's dwarfism in place of the original play's portrayal of Cyrano as a talented poet and soldier who suffered from a debilitating inferiority complex over what he perceived as an abnormally large nose. The plot then follows how Cyrano has always been in love with Roxanne, a girl from his village, but can never confess his affections to her, for fear of being rejected. How he ends up befriending Christian, a young soldier who is also smitten by Roxanne and helps her woo her with his writing and wit form the rest of this age-old narrative.

To imbue fresh energy and ideas to a done-to-death plotline requires particular guile and thankfully, the wily auteur behind Atonement (2007) and the Oscar-winning Darkest Hour (2017) had many aces up his sleeve. Peter Dinklage is an absolute revelation as the tragic Cyrano, combining his famous rapier wit we saw in Game of Thrones with a more morose and sombre demeanour and an exquisitely deep singing voice to render soul and gravitas to each sequence. The music by Aaron & Bryce Dessner is soul-stirring and packs emotion with "Heaven is where I fall" the standout song, one that will bring a lump to the throat of even the most emotionally uptight viewer.

However, there are some chinks in the armour with the performance from Haley Benette ("Roxanne") coming off as petulant and childish instead of charming and elegant as we know the legendary character to be written as. Kelvin Harrison Junior is also a disappointment as "Christian", clearly out of sorts with the weight of responsibility the director gave such a young and relatively inexperienced actor to handle.

Nevertheless, Dinklage's one-man emotional catharsis is a story that deserves a viewing, especially if you are someone who he took through the wringer as "Tyrion Lannister' in Game of Thrones. Dinklage made us first hate him, then pity his plight and finally root for him in the iconic HBO series and in Cyrano, he takes us through another gut-wrenching emotional journey.

Recommended!

Don't go to this movie expecting a faithful rendition of Rostand's play, and you will have a great time

[richard-1787 · 7/10 · 26 February 2022]

This movie is certainly a mixed bag, with great positives and some definite failures, but it's well worth the price of admission.

Far and away the best thing about this movie, for me, was the remarkably imaginative direction of Joe Wright. I've seen a fair number of movie adaptations of Rostand's play, and none comes close to this in creative directorial imagination. Most are bogged down in memories of how the play looks in the theater. Not Wright. He keeps this moving, cutting from here to there, inserting this scene in that scene, etc. I would have guessed the movie ran less than 90 minutes. I was astounded to see it had lasted just over two hours. Wright and his camerafolk really did a spectacular job here.

The acting is also uniformly good. Ben Mendelsohn makes a caricature out of de Guiche, but in this very truncated version of Rostand's play, I guess that doesn't matter. Harrison is very good as Christian, which is why it's a shame that the script made him barely literate. Harrison is given room to act in his last scene, with Cyrano on the battlefield, and he does a fine job. Dinklage and Bennett are good as the leads, Cyrano and Roxane.

The two major weaknesses here are the script and the songs. The songs are all unremarkable, and sometimes the lyrics are downright embarrassing. The script is alright when it sticks with prose, but when it goes for verse, as in Act I, it sounds like a bad high school effort. If you can't write great poetry-and Rostand's poetry for this play is often astoundingly beautiful-you should either stick to prose or find a good poet.

On the positive side, the script does a good job of cutting Rostand's very long and complex play down to a much abbreviated version.

My major caveat here is with the language. Cyrano, in the original play, is a master of two kinds of language: the very clever and the beautifully romantic. It is a distinction he makes very clear during the balcony scene-which is nicely adapted here. Christian here says that he is afraid to woo Roxane because he isn't capable of clever language. But in this movie, unlike in the play, we don't see Roxane captivated by whit, just by romantic verse. That would have taken some rewriting, of course, but I think it would have made certain things clearer. If there isn't time to show Roxane enamored of both, they should just have left out the business about whit and limited the discussion to beautiful romantic language.

And then they should have brought on board a real poet who could write some for Cyrano.

Most people won't be bothered by this if they just see the movie once. If you've read the original play and seen the other movie versions, however, it will bother you.

There is also the issue of Christian's race. The actor who plays him, Harrison, is Black, but no one mentions that. It would have been a chance to develop Roxane's freedom of spirit to mention it and then show that it wasn't a problem for her.

There are lots of great moments from the play that aren't carried over here. But so it goes. This is not a movie of the play, it's a movie of a musical adaptation of the play. Better to accept it for what it is than to complain about what it is not and was not trying to be.

All that said, this is still one very enjoyable movie.

One of the most powerful romances I have ever seen.

[plumcreative · 10/10 · 4 June 2022]

This is a romance that hits you in the head and heart- not the loins.

So many movie makers today feel the need to include graphic or seductive sex scenes which often diminishes any real romance. The writer, directors, actors, and everyone involved in this production have created something that demonstrates real love- not lust.

This story is about connection and conviction. We don't need to see the characters bumping and grinding to feel the strength of their feelings. Words are so much more powerful and lasting.

Peter Dinklage is amazing as the intelligent and sensitive Cyrano. A man who feels he does not have enough to give but really has so much more than anyone else. Cyrano loves Roxanne deeply and only wants what is best for her so he makes sacrifices for her.

Not many movies can make me tear up anymore but this one did. I saw it on a plane returning from Europe and the flight attendant asked if I was OK because I was crying. I get depressed sometimes when I see all the crap going on in the world- selfishness, inconsideration, greed- things that seem so thoughtless and evil. This film helped renew hope in me that there are still people out there who understand what is important in life.

Cudos to everyone involved in making this movie. Superb acting, beautiful vocals, excellent timing, inspired direction, moving writing, and editing that brought it all together wonderfully.

I will be disappointed if this doesn't win many awards.

Cheers, Amy.

Surely the lead in a musical should be able to sing?

[coombsstephen · 6/10 · 14 February 2022]

This in an odd film in a way, some of the story, acting and singing is very good but then again other parts of the story, acting and singing is truly awful.

Peter Dinklage acts brilliantly but sings terribly which is a real shame. The Voices of the other leads are excellent though.

Sometimes great but really a poor mans Les miserables.

Too many poor rhymes for a poet-hero!

[feckingmoonmars · 4/10 · 24 February 2022]

Cyrano de Bergerac as a musical was a poor decision, and casting actors with poor singing voices was an even poorer decision. Peter Dinklage was charismatic and convincing but the lyrics let him down. The lyrics were laughably bad (rhyming 'Cyrano' with 'no'- horribly unpoetic). For an ordinary musical this wouldn't be so jarring, but Cyrano is about wit and wordplay. The feeble lyrics were a distraction. A few minor and presumably unnamed characters also had frustratingly bad vocal skills which seems so easily avoidable by casting better singers. Perhaps the goal was to mask the lack of musical talent of the lead actors. I feel something was lost when Cyrano's speeches were overshadowed by so much over the top choreography. I fear new audiences will miss the point.

Not sure why all the hate?

[gdoumerc1984 · 8/10 · 1 January 2023]

Beautifully filmed period piece and retelling of the classic play with some changes. Dinkledge gives a heart-wrenching performance as Cyrano (obviously his stature is substituted for the big nose), supported by a mostly decent cast. Lots of reviews here bemoan the musical aspect of the film and I will agree I didn't expect it to be one. However, I thought the music and lyrics were fantastic, with such raw emotion pouring out (I dare anyone not to get a lump in their throat at the soldiers singing their farewell letters song). I give this film a 8/10 for its music, risk taking and emotional gravitas.

Great performance and a joy to watch in a dull musical version

[tm-sheehan · 6/10 · 24 February 2022]

My Review - Cyrano

My Rating. 6.5/10

This beautifully produced movie looks wonderful Peter Dinklage's performance in the title role as Cyrano is very impressive however I can't say the same for his singing.

I was a little surprised at the amount of music and singing in this sixth film version of the classic story of Cyrano de Bergerac's unrequited love for Roxanne.

In fact this is a film adaptation of the 2018 stage musical play written by Peter Dinklage's wife Erica Schmidt with music film score by brothers Aaron and Bryce Dressner I enjoy musicals but think this one falls flat even though there are a few impressive songs in this film version like the touching song Wherever I Fall sung by soldiers in a farewell to their families as they may die in battle plus Every Letter sung well by Haley Bennett who is lovely as Roxanne.

I agree with one reviewer who wrote the rhymes seem flat , the emotions small. The singing voices tight and limited , Cyrano should soar but instead it droops.

There have been a few musical adaptations of Cyrano 2 Operas one by Franco Alfano in 1936 and another Opera in 1991 by Australian David Reeves which featured Normie Rowe as Cyrano. There was also a Broadway musical version by Anthony Bergess that starred Christopher Plummer and now this film version and none have really soared in popularity.

Saying all that I did enjoy many aspects of Cyrano in this version the title character instead of having a facial deformity is challenged by dwarfism and is convinced that his appearance renders him unworthy of the love of a devoted friend, the luminous Roxanne, Cyrano has yet to declare his feelings for her and Roxanne has fallen in love, at first sight, with Christian who while handsome is unable to express himself in prose and Cyrano whose lilting romantic letters charm Roxanne has to hide in the background while Christian courts Roxanne.

The wonderful performance by Peter Dinklage makes this film worth seeing.

I also liked Haley Bennett as Roxanne she and Peter Dinklage must have been superb together on stage in the original production of his wife's play .I also enjoyed Kevin Harrison Jr in the role of Christian but didn't recognise Australian actor Ben Mendelsohn until the credits as the foppish villain De Goucher.

Cyrano costume designer Massimo Cantini Parrini and Jacqueline Durran certainly deserve their Oscar Nomination and the film is nominated for 4 British BAFTAs.

I'm surprised Sarah Greenwood and Katie Spencer the Production Designers have missed out on an Oscar nomination and wish them well in the BAFTAS.

As I mentioned earlier Peter Dinklage as Cyrano is reason enough for me to recommend Cyrano the musical he certainly sings better than Russel Crow in Les Misérables.

Another remake that is less than the orginals

[gfarrell0 · 4/10 · 19 January 2022]

Cyrano has been turned into a musical with poor music and dull dialog. Peter Dinklage is the only bright spot in this movie. This version of the classic story has no heart and is a poor imposter of the original.

A successful entry in the Cyrano canon.

[JohnDeSando · 25 February 2022]

"If you love her, tell her so!" Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand

Romantic love has arguably never been as deeply parsed as it was in the 19th century when Rostand's poetic drama Cyrano de Bergerac debuted. Here is a tongue-tied handsome soldier of the 17th century in love with a beautiful and courtly, albeit impecunious, lady, whose need was that he write her beautiful love letters. After many versions over the centuries, director Joe Wright gets it right with the recent Cyrano, starring Game of Thrones' Peter Dinklage as the poet Cyrano enlisted by lovelorn soldier Christian (Kelvin Harrison Jr.) to write those letters for him to Roxanne (Haley Bennett, Wright's real-life wife).

Wright has chosen the diminutive Dinklage to represent Rostand's big-nosed Cyrano with a height-disadvantage Cyrano believes discounts Roxanne's ever loving him. But writing catapults him into her affection even though she believes the love words are Christian's. This new Cyrano just as easily represents as the original did the diffidence of men approaching the inscrutable demands of love, even though they had been codified by Andreas Capellanus's Art of Courtly Love in the Middle Ages and lyrically penned by poets in history.

This time around Dinklage handily acts the sword-proficient secret lover whose only chance to touch Roxanne's heart is anonymously drafting Christian's love letters. Harrison's vacuous but sweet Christian represents well the disabled communicator lovers feel their competition must be. Bennett's ethereal and superficial Roxanne is unreachable and simple enough to offer Cyrano-like suitors to claim she wasn't up to the intellectual demands anyway.

This stunningly gorgeous film, set in the mid-17th rather than 16th century, uses the powdered, billowy-costumed court to dance this iteration into audience hearts if only visually, but then that's the point, isn't it, about the difference between the suitors-surface versus depth? Like the visual splendor of the court, this musical version set in Noto, Sicily, has mostly forgettable songs, written by rock band The National for the stage production. The exception is the song sung by soldiers on the eve of battle. With Mount Etna as background, this song is powerful and melancholic as it foreshadows the tragedy to come.

I am one of a few devotees of Jose Ferrer's 1950 Oscar winning performance; no one could as magically depict Cyrano. But Dinklage is a worthy contestant in that cultural contest.

Musical or not, Rostand's words carry well over the centuries, with Love the lone survivor of the battle of the sexes.

I am enduring!

[lalo60 · 6/10 · 14 September 2023]

Technically, as acting and as film, this is beautiful, honestly. Sets, costumes, and dialogues flow into a very positive visual experience over a classical, universally resonant plot. Audibly, however, and unfortunately, it comes with one of the worst, least tolerable scores in my long, lifetime experience. I'm almost finished, thanks be to God, and I have yet to hear a memorable note or tune. Seemingly untrained voices perk in prose through limited ranges in tuneless songs. Although I am 2/3 finished and tempted to fast forward at each new song, I have stuck with it without fast forwarding so far. Nevermore! Musically, this is an endurance test.

Writers

[maemae-62035 · 6/10 · 26 April 2023]

Seems like the writers had never read the play. Felt like they missed the soul of the source material. Actors were beautifully cast but the dialogue and lyrics felt clunky and misguided. Felt like a love story when it absolutely is a story about failed truth. Joe Wright had done a beautiful job as always but again overall it feels like the point is missed. Still an enjoyable watch but the musical bits felt jarring and out of nowhere. Captured none of the humor and cavalier attitude. De Guiche also came across as very r*pey which felt very odd and uncomfortable since it was not in any other the other adaption.

Dinklage

[questl-18592 · 7/10 · 27 July 2022]

This was very much not what I was expecting. Picked it up because I saw the two headliners in it and got intrigued, was not expecting a musical version of this story. That said, no matter how charming and pleasant this movie is, nor how well I think the two leads perform, I don't see myself going back to this anytime soon. Its lacking that extra spark of excitement and intrigue. It's good, feels a hair away from being great.

-4 for the singing and the songtext

[brandtair · 6/10 · 16 June 2023]

So I just read this is based on a musical and ai dislike musicals. Because in general the singing is not the best and lyrics is form follows function.

However if we would replace the singing with poetry it would have been great. The story really works mildly infuriating one throughout. The singing makes the bucket spill over and I did question if I should see the whole of it. But I did see the whole of it. And the depiction of the age, scenes and acting is quite good. It really is just the singing that ruins it for me. Especially combined with poetry. The poetry fits much better and it really makes the lyrics of the singing look bad. Also I may be wrong but did I hear American accents through the singing? That sound really put me off sometimes.

brilliant - I loved it

[OneAnjel · 10/10 · 4 December 2022]

I'm one of those who clicked Play without reading the genres. But when Haley starts singing you can't help but be enchanted. What a beautiful voice, positively hypnotizing. The others weren't all as mesmerizing; however the story is timeless. What a love story - had to bring the tissues into easy reach. Fabulous costumes, make-up, scenery, and videography. The dance choreography was perfect. And can we talk about the moral of the story. Poets over eons have written about love letters never sent and how we hang on to pride and fear. There is so much to be said about the truths in this beautiful play. Justice was done here and much more. A big 10 from me.

Solid But Could Be Better

[sweidman-28016 · 6/10 · 22 February 2022]

"My fate is to love her from afar."

A man ahead of his time, Cyrano de Bergerac dazzles whether with ferocious wordplay at a verbal joust or with brilliant swordplay in a duel. But, convinced that his appearance renders him unworthy of the love of a devoted friend, the luminous Roxanne, Cyrano has yet to declare his feelings for her and Roxanne has fallen in love, at first sight, with Christian. Cyrano is Joe Wright's latest period piece after the disaster that was The Woman in the Window. He's track record hasn't been the strongest of late. With Cyrano, I had some hope, mainly for performances and production value. I got just that and more. This is a solid movie. The look of it all is really impressive. I just loved the production design. Everything looked so beautiful. The costumes, which gained an Oscar nomination, are also great. We can't ignore that the makeup and hairstyling is on par with the rest. Joe Wright knows how to make his films beautiful. It's a visual feast from start to finish. Bryce and Aaron Dessner score the film well. They did the same for the broadway musical, but this is all new compositions which is neat.

If you're going to watch the movie for anything, it's Peter Dinklage. I haven't really watched Game of Thrones, so I don't know his range on there besides the rave reviews and fans. Anyway, from what I've seen him in, he's never been better. It's hard to imagine anybody else playing Cyrano. For the stage performance he and Haley Bennett also played in their respective roles. It's cool to see them reprise them. Their chemistry is strong and it's easy to root for them to be together. Kelvin Harrison Jr. Also does well here. The acting and singing is all good. I can't say I was really taken by the songs, however, they do work for what we get. My biggest issue is the storytelling. Everything is great, but the storytelling can't match it. Personally, I wasn't as interested in it. It comes off as mediocre and familiar. Almost everyone knows this story, it's very famous. However, this version of Cyrano de Bergerac isn't as refreshing as it could be. The movie runs into pacing issues and some lackluster moments. The ending saves it all in a sequence that I thought was captivating. As for the rest, I was entertained. I feel slightly letdown by the end product, but I think many will take a liking to this delightful and heartwarming musical. I was able to see an advanced screening of this over a week ago just after Dinklage's Oscar snub. Once it's released next week, he'll certainly be the talk of the town.

Might Have Loved, If...

[adriema · 1/10 · 23 January 2022]

Many reviews seem to be focused on politics or socially diverging views but please, allow me to draw another comparison.

Imagine visiting a new restaurant and spotting cottage pie on the menu. Having had cottage pie before and having adored it, you place your order. A dish comes, steaming and heaping with food, but instead of ground meat on your plate there are slabs of turkey. Instead of the usual peas and carrots, there are radishes and bok choy. Where your mashed potatoes ought to rest are shoestring fries and atop the whole dish, in place of a savory sauce is an apricot spiked dijon dressing. Hm, I might have to make that but if I did and if it was any good, I'd have no idea what to call it.

I despise labels but sometimes they're useful. If I see cottage pie on a menu I can expect, if not a certain experience, then at least certain ingredients. If a movie is labeled Cyrano but adulterates numerous classic traits of the play then it is not Cyrano, and ought to be presented under a unique title so I can experience it for what it is instead of expecting it to be something I'm already familiar with.

The movie 'The Ugly Truth' has aspects of Cyrano-namely, an inept, would-be love interest using the words of an another to woo the object of their affection. Yet it does not go by the title of Cyrano because too many aspects of the original are absent. That's all. I could imagine some arguing that this is a bit like Hugo's Notre Dame de Paris without the Hunchback, but that's another discussion.

Sweet & sumptuous.

[W011y4m5 · 8/10 · 16 December 2022]

Oh, this was utterly gorgeous, unashamedly adorable & an unexpected delight, from beginning to end.

I should've foreseen this project's eventual success, considering the sheer strength of the premise, reuniting visionary director Jo Wright with his most dependable cinematographer, Seamus McGarvey (who previously shot his masterpiece, "Atonement", subsequent misfire "Pan" & the striking "Anna Karenina") but irrespective of the impressiveness of their combined credentials (& inimitable styles that enhance each other's so wonderfully), I dared not dream that they would create their best film for number of years again (since his filmography is admittedly hit & miss at times), yet I'm enthralled to concede that despite my prior cynicism & preconceived doubts, "Cyrano" is a classic, sprawling, hopeful, heartfelt Shakespearian tragedy, playing out as though it were a linguistic symphony, chronicling a romance that's ultimately doomed by the barriers erected in the protagonist's own mind, which manifest themselves physically through the form of written letters & well-intentioned subterfuge - whilst equally, acting as a profoundly moving exploration in to the power of love itself; how despite the imperfections borne from insecurities or doubt, expressions of it are ultimately able to transcend those aforementioned barriers thrown in its path, if the feelings are strong enough to overcome such seemingly insurmountable obstacles. Seldom have I been left so deeply touched by a narrative that endeavours to capture the unconditional, yearning selflessness of adoration & the consequential loneliness left in its absence, but here I am - in admiration of its rare achievements. It also feels especially poignant, acknowledging in its denouement that despite the honesty often captured in poetic words, language is still most effective when spoken truthfully, delivered from the heart - in person - to the recipient.

Hence, the movie's a deeply flawed, human tale, told intimately & with passion both in front of & behind the camera - reflecting the lyrical quality of the dialogue in the filmmaking which shares that palpable love of skilfully constructed tenderness.

Furthermore, Peter Dinklage owns the role with his indomitable performance & it's genuinely beautiful to witness his talents put to phenomenal use, eloquently articulating such evocative ruminations with sincerity & authenticity, conveyed so artistically in every conceivable manner. Bravo.

Dinklage is always good but the music is not musical

[jjjj · 6/10 · 6 March 2022]

Staging and acting and concept are all good, but every time it lapses into "singing", this movie cries out for a fast-forward button.

Worth seeing, but maybe not worth listening to.

It's confirmed...

[gc-17365 · 3/10 · 16 January 2022]

Peter Dinklage cannot sing

The story has been done many times before and far better than this abhorration.

Couldn't get past the first two singing parts he does while fighting off a dozen 6 foot tall attackers

It's all rather silly to suspend belief on this movie.