Vonia
Roxanne (1987)
Director: Fred Schepisi
Watched: April 2018
Rating: 6/10 Cliche, saccharine,
Nose a needless plot device.
Wished to strangle Chris,
Funnier adapted play,
But Martin is all it has. Comets, great houses,
Firefighters on fire,
Written love letters,
Laughs and banter so witty,
Martin is more than enough. Somonka is a form of poetry that is essentially two tanka poems (the 5-7-5-7-7 syllable format), the second stanza a response to the first. Traditionally, each is a love letter and it requires two authors, but sometimes a poet takes on two personas. My somonka will be a love/hate letter to this film?
#Somonka #PoemReview
gwnightscream
Steve Martin, Daryl Hannah, Rick Rossovich and Shelly Duvall star in this 1987 comedy based on the play, "Cyrano de Bergarac." Martin (The Jerk) plays Charlie, a fire chief with a unique nose which becomes handy for his profession. Hannah (Splash) plays the title character who is an astronomer he falls for. Rossovich (Top Gun) plays firefighter, Chris who joins Charlie's team and who also falls for Roxanne. He seeks Charlie's help in wooing her and Charlie begins writing romantic poetry which swipes her off her feet. She eventually learns that Charlie is her poet and Duvall (The Shining) plays Dixie, his friend. I grew up watching this and always enjoyed it, Martin is great as usual, he and Hannah have good chemistry and I like Bruce Smeaton's score. I recommend this good 80's romantic comedy.
sol-
Edmond Rostand's play 'Cyrano de Bergerac', about a man with an abnormally large nasal appendage, is re-imagined as a contemporary romantic comedy in this motion picture written by and starring Steve Martin. Transforming the source material into a comedy works better than one might expect thanks to the wit and charm that Martin brings to the role (even if he never outclasses José Ferrer). Martin also displays remarkable athletic agility at several points with the key dynamic being the confidence he is unable to feel around women despite otherwise being an absolutely perfect romantic prospect. At the best of times, the film is very funny too with Martin coming up with several impromptu insults for himself at one point, cheered on by a crowd, and a part where his attempts to help young Rick Rossovich woo Darryl Hannah's title character undone by the interfering police radio signals. The comedy varies in effectiveness though (Martin drinking from a wine glass is particularly unfunny) and it detracts somewhat from the drama. Martin never quite manages to communicate how heartbreaking it is for him to help Rossovich romance the woman he loves. Aside from being painted as intelligent (she is an astronomer), Hannah is never especially alluring either, nor does the interest she takes in the bumbling Rossovich ever really ring true. If one accepts these elements and runs it with though, there are many amusing moments to be had with Golden Globe nominated Steve Martin in very fine form, not to mention the fun ways that the story has been updated for modern times.
Rainey Dawn
A new twist to the old story of "Cyrano de Bergerac" gives us this light-hearted romantic comedy "Roxanne".This a wonderful film that many of us can identify with. Most of us have been one of the three characters at one time or another in our life.A) Are you Roxanne? Forced to choose, the person with a wonderful personality OR the person with the good-looks with a bad personality? B) Are you Chris? You are the one with the good-looks that lacks a good personality.C) Are you C.D. Bales? Maybe you are the one with the great personality but lacks good-looks.I'm not a big fan of romantic-comedies but this movie is one of the best in its genre (IMO).8.5/10
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