Roxanne

One of my favourite Steve Martin comedies, before he followed the example of Woody Allen and stopped with the comedy and hankered after more serious parts in dull films by Ron Howard and David Mamet. This is definitely how I like him best, in genuinely funny situations that make you laugh. He wrote his own screenplay too, cleverly if loosely taking the old classic story of the big-nosed romantic Cyrano De Bergerac and transplanting it to a modern American small town romantic comedy.

As Charlie, the local fire-chief, Martin's character, besides being a loquacious wordsmith, is also, it would appear, a Cirque-class acrobat and martial arts expert which he amply demonstrates as the movie progresses. The arrival in town of intellectual hottie Darryl Hannah finds the two striking up a blossoming if offbeat friendship before the entrance of lunk-hunk Chris, nicely played by Rick Rossovich, to his fire-crew finds Charlie pressed into action as Chris's prompter in trying to win over Hannah's heart in his stead.

Needless to say, the paths of true love don't run smoothly but do eventually find their rightful destinations for all the main parties but not before many highly comedic scenes get in the way. The extended scenes where Martin takes out two insulting tennis players at the start, his top 20 nose-jokes and especially the by-proxy seduction of Hannah at her Juliet window are all hilarious, but there's plenty of devilry in the detail too especially the short scenes with the "Golden Girls" of the town.

Just maybe, Martin could have downplayed the slapstick comedy element of his Keystone Fire Brigade, which can't touch the Golden Silents of Keaton and Lloyd for amusement, but their coming together to finally demonstrate competence in actually putting out a fire, to the strains of "The Blue Danube", at least concluded another minor plot story arc too. Oh, and I hated the sleep-inducing saxophone-dominated soundtrack too, but hey, this was the 80's, I guess.

Martin is terrific in the "Cyrano" part and Darryl Hannah is surprisingly good in being asked to do more than just shake her curls. Mild distraction as they were as a group, it was still nice to see Michael J Pollard as one of the fire crew too.

Like I said, I'm a big fan of Martin's early comedies and this is one of his best. If I'm lying, may my nose grow in length!

I do not routinely enjoy Steve Martin, but was extremely impressed with the sensitivity and deftness with which he played Cyrano de Bergerac in modern guise. There is nothing archaic or stilted about the script, yet it is surprisingly faithful to the character of the original play (which in turn is closely based on Cyrano's true history). Numerous scenes - including most of the best ones - are lifted almost intact from the Edmond Rostand play, but a viewer who is unfamiliar with that source probably will have no idea which scenes they are. The poetry, imaginative spark and romantic instincts of the original play are handled lovingly and with finesse. Daryl Hannah is just right as a thoroughly modern Roxanne, willingly surprised to find that there is still romance in the world. You do not have to be familiar with the source to enjoy this witty, satisfying, and very funny movie - but if you are, you will enjoy it all the more.

Note added 2015: When I first wrote the above in 1999, Steve Martin had not yet done most of his (in my view) best work; but I still go back to this as my very favorite of his performances.

Mozart would have loved Roxanne. This perfect film rests on some of his greatest hits...as choreographed and performed by Steve Martin. There is nothing "Roxanne" lacks, from aliens dropping out of trees to "make love to older women", to a water ballet courtesy the local fire department.

The characters are beautiful: the brilliant misfit; the gorgeous "astrologer or astronomer, or something"; the bronzeable but- alas, dumb- hunk...all gather on the mountainside for our pleasure. Toss in a big rubber nose, a couple of the greatest lines from literature, stir with that Mozart stuff, and poof...a great valentine evening.

Steve Martin's genius as a comic actor has never been in doubt. But once in a while even a genius does something astounding. For Martin it is "Roxanne". Possibly THE funniest movie that I have ever seen, not to mention passionately romantic, it also does something that so few movies are able to do today... it stays intelligent despite the humor. In today's Hollywood so many comedies fall into the trap of deplorable slapstick and gratuitous cussing, "Roxanne" succeeds in entertaining us through colorful characters, enchanting surprises, and witty intelligent dialogue. Where have movies like this gone to? Where were they to begin with? A rare jewel in the sands of Hollywood, see this movie like your life depends on it (tip to the wise: take a date). Pay special attention to the character of Andy, he is a special treat throughout the film. Also look for a VERY young Damon Wayans. The treats abound.

Steve Martin (The man with two brains) stars as fire chief Charlie Bales, a man with a big nose. This unusual feature makes him believe he will be able to be with a girl he has just met, the beautiful Roxanne.

Martin gives a good performance as the insecure but happy fire chief. His best moment is the famous bar scene where he is challenged to think of 20 insults regarding his big nose, which is the most interesting point of the film.

The over sized nose is the big talking point of the town and the use of it was quite interesting as it brought out a touching subject regarding appearance and what other people though of it. As the film is a comedy it is the focus on pretty much all of the jokes and uses it well, with Martin's comedy experience proving vital to make the nose jokes work. His reactions are excellent, the bar scene and the opening sequence with the two men. The fact Martin did all of his own stunts was a fact I couldn't believe because there are some very difficult manoeuvres that he has to do but all are executed brilliantly.

The plot is consistent, with many good jokes and a sweet storyline regarding the fire chief and the woman he has fallen for. Sadly it follows up the conventional romantic story line. Don't get me wrong I love romantic films but a bit of variety every now and again wouldn't hurt.

Rossovich and Hannah are good enough in their roles but are completely outshone by Martin. They had pretty conventional roles and always seemed to give the film predictability rather than spontaneity. Though that is also down to some cheesy and poor dialogue.

Martin's performance however is enough to carry the film from start to finish and had the film been longer or varied from the usual romantic conventions, then this would be the perfect romantic comedy.