MOVIE REVIEW: Musical rewrite of Cyrano's tragic love triangle never hits the high notes.
), who injects horny, corny musical theatre-kid energy into this latest iteration of Rostand’s doomed love triangle.
The closer source material for the film is Erica Schmidt’s 2018 stage play of the same name, which follows Rostand’s outline. A legendary wit and swordsman, French cadet Cyrano is swooningly in love with the noblewoman Roxane . But Cyrano’s pride won’t let him declare that love; he is short and fears rejection. Roxane herself falls at first sight for Christian , a handsome cadet who by comparison is dull and inarticulate in person.
There’s much to like in this singular production – singular in that it’s something of a romping melodrama, and it’s not like we’re drowning in those. The cast is game. Harrison Jr. – the best singer of the lead trio – sweetens the less-rounded role of Christian with a puppyish charm. Bennett plays Roxane as modern and blowsy and so high-spirited she’s able to catch the wave of Wright’s habitual tilt toward cheesiness and not be drowned by it.
Can he carry a tune? Well … sure. Dinklage leans heavily on the half-singing, half-speaking stylings of Leonard Cohen, Nick Cave, and – most especially – Matt Berninger of the National. The latter wrote the musical’s lyrics along with Carin Besser, while Berninger’s bandmates Aaron and Bryce Dessner composed the score. But qualities the band works to its favor – resistance to radio-friendly hooks, a mesmerizing, midtempo repetitiveness – translate poorly to the musical.
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