Amazon.com Essentials:
In 1987, almost a hundred years after its first production,
the romantic story of Cyrano de Bergerac found new life in a winsome
film written by Steve Martin. Roxanne updates the tale with a
smart '80s spin, yet writer-star Martin stays close to the
old-fashioned heart of the matter. He plays a small-town firefighter
named C.D. Bales, whose otherwise unremarkable existence is crowned by
an amazingly long nose. He falls for the world's most beautiful
astronomer (Daryl Hannah), but he is embarrassed by the size of his
proboscis and prefers to stay on the sidelines. Like Cyrano, the shy
C.D. instead helps a handsome friend (Rick Rossovich) woo the fair
lady by providing flowery sentiments and soulful poetry. Not only does
the story still work, but Australian director Fred Schepisi captures a
dreamy grace in his visual design for the film (some of which will be
lost without the widescreen format). Set in Washington State, but
filmed in the hilly ski resort of Nelson, British Columbia, the
location seems like a fairy-tale town, nearly as unreal as Steve
Martin's nose. --Robert Horton
