The oft told (and adapted) tale of Cyrano de Bergerac, Roxanne and Christian de Neuvillette gets the musical treatment courtesy of The National and director Joe Wright. The project originated as a theater production by writer Erica Schmidt. Peter Dinklage and Haley Bennett reprise their roles as Cyrano and Roxanne from the stage production in the film with Kelvin Harrison Jr. joining them as Christian.
Cyrano (2021) runs into the problem of feeling like two versions of the same story being told simultaneously. On the one hand there is the musical whose songs advance the narrative more than they illuminate character subtext, following the tradition of the operetta. Then there is the traditional dramatic version of the story on the other hand. This effectively makes Cyrano a musical whose numbers simply reiterate what’s already happened.
The National is a terrific band with some truly outstanding albums, but their sensibility is completely at odds with the modern American musical. Their songs are characterized by micro-narratives and casual observations of everyday life, fusing the storytelling style of Raymond Carver with the lyricism of David Berman. The National rarely deal in the abstract of human emotion without grounding it in visceral details. Cyrano desperately needs the kind of romanticism one associates with Frank Loesser or lyricist Johnny Mercer. The songs in Cyrano should reflect the poetry of its title character.
Joe Wright’s direction of Cyrano is equally misguided. The most intense love songs are rendered either as Celine Dion music videos from the late nineties or as something akin to outtakes from 9½ Weeks (1986). These intimate moments lack genuine urgency, opting to trade on overly familiar visual signifiers that border on self parody. Wright’s greatest misstep is that the filmmaker appears lost when it comes to choreography. Not only does the choreography feel unrelated to the songs, but Wright can’t find a shot that optimizes the work of his dancers.
The best part of Cyrano, besides its immaculate production design, is its cast. Every one of the players gives an affecting performance that, even when buried in Wright’s overwrought direction, manages to shine through. Some performers may have better voices than others but it’s easy to excuse any limitations given the fact that the vocals were recorded live during filming. The result is a film that can be fun but remains unessential.
