Roxanne

Roxanne (1987) is a delightful Romantic Comedy starring Daryl Hannah in the title role, Roxanne, an astrophysicist, and Steve Martin as Charles “C. D.” Bales, the local Fire Chief. The film is moderately based on the play Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rosland, updated to a contemporary, rural city somewhere in the United States. Bales is the modern version of Cyrano, complete with a outstanding nose. This is the second in a series of movies I am writing about, the first being Cyrano de Bergerac (1950). You can check out the first entry at – https://peakd.com/hive-121744/@thunderjack/review-cyrano-de-bergerac-1950.

*Roxanne* (1987) poster - [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093886/mediaviewer/rm3113760000?ref_=ttmi_mi_all_pos_67) In this updated version, we have a variation of a duel, with C.D. wielding a tennis racket and having jest with two bullies who mocked C.D. over is magnificent nose. The fight is as funny as it is ridiculous, however it goes a long way in establishing C.D.’s character. Later, he meets Roxanne who has managed to lock herself out of her house, and C.D. assists her. How Roxanne got herself locked out is a bit, um, unusual, to be polite. And the two enter a long and interesting conversation, thus starting a budding friendship. Meanwhile, a new professional fire fighter shows up in the form of the very handsome Chris (Rick Rossovich), who Roxanne is attracted to. Now if you know the story of Cyrano, you can figure out where this is going, and it does reflect the original play and the 1950 film that starred Jose Ferrer fairly nicely, with a number of modern adaptions.

Steve Martin and Daryl Hannah - [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093886/mediaviewer/rm4128858368?ref_=ttmi_mi_all_sf_11) How I missed this film in its original run is beyond me as I was back Stateside after my three year stint in Spain with the Air Force. But it wasn’t too long after my return, so probably busy doing things like settling in at Travis AFB at the time. Looking back at this film, I am wishing I had seen it as it is such a delightful movie to watch, with a lot more humor in it that the previous adaptation; and Steve Martin is just a hoot to watch as he bests bullies and competitors alike, both verbally and physically. If you saw the Jose Ferrer film, *Roxanne* has a similar duel where C.D. mocks his opponent with a wide variety of insults about his nose that are fitting for a modern setting and are quite a laugh.

Daryl Hannah and Rick Rossovich - [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093886/mediaviewer/rm3994640640?ref_=ttmi_mi_all_sf_16) All of this makes *Roxanne* a delightful and humorous interpretation of the original material, with a number of different twists and turns that provide some much needed conflict between the leading characters. We see how Roxanne is led to believe that her love interest, Chris, is an absolute brainiac, while those around him know otherwise. We learn that Chris has troubles connecting with women he finds very attractive, which leads to other goofy, and embarrassing, situations for him.

Fire fighter training - [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093886/mediaviewer/rm3961086208?ref_=ttmi_mi_all_sf_15) I think I gave away enough of what goes on in the film without revealing much in the way of spoilers. There are some other very funny bits that take place with training the fire fighters that takes place, as some of the guys, well, all of them except for C.D. and Chris, kind of bumble around the tasks need to prepare for fighting a real fire.

Most of the cast, except for Martin and Hannah, are people I am not familiar with, although my Bonnie Bride pointed out that Dixie is played by Shelley Duvall. Yes, I know she was in Popeye, and no I never saw it. And so I didn’t recognize her. I did recognize, as did one of our friends who was over watching Roxanne, Michael Pollard who played Andy, one of the fire fighters. Yes, he was in Star Trek, the first season episode “Miri”, and he also appeared in Lost in Space, “The Magic Mirror”, which is one of the more interesting episodes of the series (prior to it going full on campy). This guy looked pretty much the same facially, making him easily recognizeable from both of those TV shows. The interesting point here is that my Bonnie Bride recognizes better known actors like Shelley Duvall and I’m like who, but anyone who appeared in the original Star Trek, she is oblivious and I am rattling off name of episode and character.

Roxanne is a definitely a movie worth watching; it’s quirky and funny, with a bit of drama tossed in for good measure. The creative team did a great job in making this film, from the writing and all the behind the camera crews, to those performing in front of the camera. Plus, as Roxanne is an Astrophysicist, it is at times educational as she explains things like Quarks and the comet she discovered to C.D.

Thanks for stopping by.

You can find me on twitter/X at https://twitter.com/thunderjack42

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(source: tmdb.org)

Cyrano de Bergerac by French author Edmond Rostand is one of the most popular stage plays in history, but also the one that would hardly be seen as light entertainment. Main reasons for that are that it is written in verse, set in somewhat unfamiliar world of 17th Century France, and, finally, the ending is a downer. Steve Martin, famous American comedian and one of the fans of Rostand’s play, was quite aware of that while writing screenplay for his adaptation in the form of Roxanne, 1987 romantic comedy directed by Fred Schepisi.

Plot is set in Nelson, small ski resort town in Pacific Northwest where the protagonist Charlie “C.D.” Bales (played by Martin) works as fire chief. He is quite capable in his job, unlike the rest of mostly inept fire department, and possesses athletic abilities, as well as great eloquence and wit, which makes him popular among fellow citizens. However, he also has an abnormally large nose, which he is quite sensitive about it and which wrecked his romantic life. Another such episode appears to begin when he meets Roxanne Kowalski (played by Daryl Hannah), beautiful astronomy student who came to Nelson for the summer. He falls in love in with her, but doubts that the sentiment will be requited due to his looks. Roxanne is, predictably, more attracted to Chris McConnell (played by Rick Rossovich), good-looking professional firefighter who arrived to help Charlie’s men. He is also attracted to Roxanne, but when he has to speak to women he turns into complete imbecile. Aware of the problem, he asks his boos for help. Charlie does so by penning love letters to Roxanne which ultimately win her heart. The ruse, however, become less sustainable over time because Chris and person Roxanne fell in love with aren’t the same.

Despite Martin’s unquestionable talent and enthusiasm, this film is a hit and miss affair. There are some brilliant scenes, especially those inspired by the original play, like the sword fight which is here transformed into protagonist ingeniously using tennis racquet to dispatch two bullies. Martin is, of course, very good in his role. Film looks attractive, due to cinematography of Ian Baker which puts British Columbia locations to good use. However, Australian director Fred Schepisi struggles to find the proper pace and film is at times burdened by background subplot about Charly’s incompetent subordinates. While Daryl Hannah looks attractive, she lacks the chemistry with Rossovich making the love triangle, which worked so well in original play, look not that convincing here. The triangle is ultimately resolved through unsatisfying and unconvincing deus ex machina intervention, which looks too much like an attempt to give Rostand’s play typical Hollywood ending. Another issue, which might distance this film from younger generations of viewers is that it is dated. Hand-written letters, while quite common in 1980s, are quite rare today. But even bigger problem is the premise of having protagonist with obnoxiously large nose in modern world, where such and even worse problems are easily solved with simple plastic surgery. Martin’s script is aware of that and offers unconvincing explanation why Charley refuses to follow that course of action. There is, however, enough humour for Roxanne to be recommended as light-hearted and mostly solid comedy.

RATING: 5/10 (++)

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