Roxanne (1987)
Oh, the talent! If you’ve ever seen Cyrano de Bergerac in its original form, you’ll know the time, intelligence, and effort it took Steve Martin to adapt the French dramatic play into an American romantic comedy. In both the original and this remake, a man with a large nose is too shy to reveal his intentions to his beloved, and when she falls in love with his handsome friend, the man helps his shy pal write her love letters. The men are soldiers in the original, but Steve Martin updated them to workers in the local fire department. Roxanne is still Roxanne, but the hero’s name has been cleverly changed to C.D. Bales, and the handsome fool who doesn’t even know the first line of the Pledge of Allegiance is Chris, shortened from Christian in the original.
In Roxanne, Steve is the fire chief and all his underlings are incompetent idiots. In one scene, there’s an unnoticed fire in the fire station while the men are playing cards, and as Steve spritzes it out, he says to them, “I would like the people of this community to feel that if, God forbid, there were a fire, calling the fire department would actually be a wise thing to do. You can’t have people, if their houses are burning down, saying, ‘Whatever you do, don’t call the fire department!’ That would be bad.” The fellows in the department are hilarious as they train and amuse the audience, and as they indoctrinate new Rick Rossovich into the small town and how to avoid getting the chief’s bad side. Steve is really self-conscious about his nose, and after Rick has been taught not to stare, he finally explodes with, “They said it was big! I didn’t expect it to be big!”
Roxanne is a master of comedy, requiring an audience as intelligent as the screenwriter to fully appreciate the humor. Just as Cyrano gets into a fencing fight as he lists off possible insults to his nose, Steve Martin gets into a verbal bar fight and rattles off similar insults. The fencing from the original is paid tribute in the opening scene as Steve gets in a tennis racket fight with a couple of guys who insult his nose. There’s the famous balcony scene, a well-meaning friend, Shelley Duvall, who gives the hero someone to confide in, and many references to the moon and the stars. Daryl Hannah, the titular love interest, is an astronomer.
For a fun double feature, rent both Roxanne and one of the versions of Cyrano de Bergerac in the same weekend. Watch the French one first, since the Steve Martin version is guaranteed to put you in a better mood.
More Steve Martin movies here!
Be sure to check out Hot Toasty Rag's review of 1950's Cyrano de Bergerac here!
Be sure to check out Hot Toasty Rag's review of 1990's Cyrano de Bergerac here!
Be sure to check out Hot Toasty Rag's review of 2000's Whatever It Takes here!
Be sure to check out Hot Toasty Rag's review of 2008's Cyrano de Bergerac here!
In Roxanne, Steve is the fire chief and all his underlings are incompetent idiots. In one scene, there’s an unnoticed fire in the fire station while the men are playing cards, and as Steve spritzes it out, he says to them, “I would like the people of this community to feel that if, God forbid, there were a fire, calling the fire department would actually be a wise thing to do. You can’t have people, if their houses are burning down, saying, ‘Whatever you do, don’t call the fire department!’ That would be bad.” The fellows in the department are hilarious as they train and amuse the audience, and as they indoctrinate new Rick Rossovich into the small town and how to avoid getting the chief’s bad side. Steve is really self-conscious about his nose, and after Rick has been taught not to stare, he finally explodes with, “They said it was big! I didn’t expect it to be big!”
Roxanne is a master of comedy, requiring an audience as intelligent as the screenwriter to fully appreciate the humor. Just as Cyrano gets into a fencing fight as he lists off possible insults to his nose, Steve Martin gets into a verbal bar fight and rattles off similar insults. The fencing from the original is paid tribute in the opening scene as Steve gets in a tennis racket fight with a couple of guys who insult his nose. There’s the famous balcony scene, a well-meaning friend, Shelley Duvall, who gives the hero someone to confide in, and many references to the moon and the stars. Daryl Hannah, the titular love interest, is an astronomer.
For a fun double feature, rent both Roxanne and one of the versions of Cyrano de Bergerac in the same weekend. Watch the French one first, since the Steve Martin version is guaranteed to put you in a better mood.
More Steve Martin movies here!
Be sure to check out Hot Toasty Rag's review of 1950's Cyrano de Bergerac here!
Be sure to check out Hot Toasty Rag's review of 1990's Cyrano de Bergerac here!
Be sure to check out Hot Toasty Rag's review of 2000's Whatever It Takes here!
Be sure to check out Hot Toasty Rag's review of 2008's Cyrano de Bergerac here!