Directed by Joe Wright, Cyrano is an adaptation of Erica Schmidt’s 2019 stage musical of the same name—both based on Edmond Rostand’s Cyrano de Bergerac from 1897—with songs written by members of the indie rock band The National. Cyrano de Bergerac (Peter Dinklage) longs for the love of Roxanne (Haley Bennett), who falls in love with another man Christian (Kelvin Harrison Jr.). A renowned swordsman and poet, Cyrano is nonetheless utterly convinced that his lack of status and physical deformity keeps him from his true love. For his part, Christian’s looks are tempered by his inability to find his words to express his love. Together the men hatch a plan to use Cyrano’s words, both in love letters and as spoken through the mouth of Christian, to woo Roxanne.
Cyrano is an uneven film that at points reaches some of the bold bravado its titular character expresses in his wordplay, but as often doesn’t really linger in the memory. Unfortunately, the musical numbers suffer from this as well, being largely forgettable and often frustratingly performed by less than spectacular performers. The cast each has their moments, but Dinklage is the main draw here, with both the expressiveness of his face conveying immense range of thought and emotion, and his delivery perfectly articulating the wit of the character. PG-13, 124 min.