MovieChat Forums > Roxanne (1987) Discussion > At what point do you give up?

At what point do you give up?

posted 9 years ago by alg11297
5 replies | jump to latest

This was a chore to sit through. I've seen the two real movies of Cyrano and read the play. If Martin is so intelligent he should have seen that this wasn't going to work. As I watched it, I realized the "comedy" was being pushed. Well what do you want from the same guy who brought you Three Amigos, LA Story and the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour? Daryl Hannah is, what, understated....does that mean she doesn't have to act? What was the point of making this crew of firefighters into the Keystone Kops? As he was writing this you'd really think Martin would have said to himself.....okay it isn't working.

[–] lexyladyjax 8 years ago

It's all right that you didn't care for it. However, that you had to post your play resume makes me think that you didn't come to it with an open mind. It's a brilliant postmodern adaptation of Cyrano. It's expectations that bring disappointment. What were yours?

Bored now.

[–] shiftylee 8 years ago

I found it funny and I don't like Steve Martin and am a comedy snob.

[–] RobbieCalifornia 8 years ago

Thanks for sharing.

[–] donluzman2 8 years ago

Well what do you want from the same guy who brought you Three Amigos, LA Story and the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour?

Er... brilliantly written comedies such as "Roxanne"?

As he was writing this you'd really think Martin would have said to himself.....okay it isn't working.

Back when it came out in 1987, the majority of the audiences really fell in love with the movie, it helped put Steve Martin on the path of an entire new level of more mature comedies such as "Planes, Trains & Automobiles", and "Parenthood", and it remains to this day a film people speak of with great affection and reverence.

I think it worked out just fine.

[–] R_Kane (15828) 7 years ago

Movie rocks. I love this movie. I just now watched it again for the first time since it was released, and--to use a word from the film itself--it moved me. It's more than funny. It has heart. I had thought that Darryl Hannah was a bimbo till this came out. Why was the fire department spastic? Because it's funny, unless you have a cane stuck up your ass! Steve Martin was an exceptionally rare combination of physical and cerebral commedian. He was a latter-day W. C. Fields. I was surprised by his physical, but not by his cognitive, grace in this movie. This is BASED ON Cyrano, asswipe OP, it is not Cyrano per se. Is it a great movie? No, it does not meet Hitchcock's test of "three great scenes, no bad scenes." Is it a WONDERFUL movie? Oh, you betcha. It has ZERO bad scenes, a captivating score (because the fact is that smart people enjoy jazz music) and one fucking AWESOME scene in the restaurant where C. D. shows that bully-wannabe assplug that there were 20 insulting witticisms that were head, shoulders and belly-button above the moronic nonentity of an insult that was all that he could summon, and then responded to the trog's physical violence with effective countermeasures. This movie stands up over time. The OP, on the other hand, can sit down.