Roxanne

Steve Martin is just the best thing around, period. He is so good, so natural, and so funny it is hard to remember him in his earlier days of "I forgot." He may turn out to be an immortal comic actor, because he just continues to mature. This picture is a delight from the very first sequence, in which Martin routs two louts with his tennis racket, right up to the happy ending. It is, of course, a modern-day retelling of the Cyrano legend, and as Martin plays him, the fire-chief hero C. D. lives up to the reputation of the original Cyrano-philosopher and physicist, etc. The film updates the story beautifully; there are no jarring disparate elements. It is a fine, intelligent picture (Martin shares writing credit too), sweet and soulful, and nicely photographed in some stunning scenery, and with a vivid group of fringe characters who enhance the picture without obscuring the main focus. There are a few standout moments: Martin getting into Roxarne's house the first time, the aforementioned opening seguence, and the setpiece in the bar when C. D. humbles a loudmouth with wit, and then with fisticuffs.

But the flow of the picture is maintained throuhgout; it never lags or loses its narrative energy. Darryl Hannah is lovely as Roxanre, and perhaps the unsung hero of the picture is the actor (can’t remember his name) who plays Chris, the oafish Adonis who finds happiness of a different sort with another girl. His is a tough role-playing the buffoon to Martin's C. D., being enough of a boor to make us realize that Roxanne is not the girl for him without being so obnoxious that we hate him--and he carries it off well. At the end, we do not detest him; rather, we feel glad that things have sorted themselves out happily for all. But Martin is the jewel of the picture. He plays a character you would want to know. He brings C. D. to life so well that we see the man behind the nose.