Review of Cyrano, My Love

I'm pretty sure that this movie has only the haziest relationship to the real events and people that led to the production of the first performance of Cyrano, but it doesn't matter: this movie is a wonderful and farcical backstage comedy that does the same thing as "Shakespeare in Love" - honoring and illuminating the creative process that produced one of the great classics. The references and correspondences between the events back- and off-stage to the actual play are there (writing letters to another man's love, the balcony scene, etc.) but one can see Rostand battering this material into shape. Great performances by all, especially by the Cyrano and Roxanne (the final Roxanne, that is!). One of the many fun things in the film is knowing who will end up playing which part in the first performance; the initial miscasting in almost every role is funny, and you wait for the musical chairs to begin. Finally, the staging of the glorious final scene in the convent is a wonder - it's not obvious, but clear, that all of a sudden, the actors and the sets have changed to be the imagined reality that brings the audience into the imaginary world of the play. All of a sudden, we're not in a theater with scuzzy sets and raggy costumes any more.