Movie Review: Roxanne

Roxanne (1987) is a wonderful remake of Jose Ferrer's swashbuckling Cyrano de Bergerac (1950), a story of a tragic romantic triangle reinterpreted as a romantic comedy.  Steve Martin, who wrote the hilarious screenplay, is C.D., a fulltime fireman at the local volunteer fire department.  His romantic interest is Roxanne, an amateur astronomer played by Darryl Hanah.  The complication is Martin's huge nose, a deformity which keeps him from approaching Roxanne, even though he is otherwise clearly a great guy, sensitive, funny, witty, and very smart.  As in Cyrano,  C.D. winds up helping Chris, a tongue-tied, empty-headed volunteer fireman, woo the fair Roxanne with words and long letters that win her heart, with often-amusing, often-touching results.  Only one of Martin's great improvements in the script is building the character of Roxanne into someone worthy of C.D.  I loved the Ferrer movie, but I hated Roxanne.  She was a bimbo.  To be fair, her sole function was as the romantic goal, as she herself admits in the movie.  But Martin did much more than that with the script.   Martin  manages to adapt the great speeches that made the earlier film so entertaining.  An example is when C.D. has to come up with 20 insults better than his challenger's weak, "Hey, Big Nose."  The results are as promised ("Fashionable: you know, you could de-emphasize your nose if you wore something larger, like... Wyoming." and "Sympathetic: aw, what happened? Did your parents lose a bet with God?")  By the way, C.D. should've demanded a recount: he delivers more than 20 insults.   Beyond that, Martin retains the swashbuckling element of the earlier film, but in modern terms.  A duel between C.D. and a couple of goofs who unwisely comment on his nose has ski-poles and tennis racket substituting for clashing swords.  This is a terrific movie.  It's one of those movies I've watched so often that I can't watch it any more.  But I will.