Review of Roxanne (1987) by Quentin T — 20 Sep 2009

I watch romantic comedies today and I realize why I loathe them so much. They don't deserve to wipe the ass of this classy comedy from 1987. They don't have a billionth of the wit, the humor, the sheer class of this one.

The story of Cyrano de Bergerac is transported from 17th-century France to late '80's U.S. Rather than being swordsmen, we have volunteer firemen.

Steve Martin is quite good as the big-nosed, literate romantic lead (he also wrote the screenplay). He particularly shines in the "20 insults" scene and in little graceful bits given to his character, like his cooking, or his acrobatics.

Michael J. Pollard is sheer genius as a kind-of-lost member of the fire brigade who still manages to reveal surprising nuggets of ability.

Fred Schepisi, Australian, directs with a very light touch, almost leaving things in mise-en-scene to give the humor room to breath. He also knows what to do with some really surreal moments, like the inept firefighter jokes, or Martin falling from a tree to make dirty suggestions to old ladies, or Martin arguing with Daryl Hannah when she says she thought he said, "Earn more sessions by sleeving." Actually, I thought that was the funniest bit. It's strange, yet it's so true. When people argue, they tend to mis-hear things, which usually makes the situation worse.

I think the only pimple in this 24-carat diamond of a rom-com is Daryl Hannah. Who can believe she's an astronomer, much less that she knows which end of a telescope to look through? Her casting here is as bad as the casting of Denise Richardson as a nuclear physicist "Christmas Jones" in "The World is Not Enough".