"Cyrano" - Review

A retelling of the classic play by Edmond Rostand, "Cyrano" tell the tale of its titular flamboyant, dashing, panache-fuelled character (Peter Dinklage) and his pining for his dearest, oldest friend Roxanne (Haley Bennett), who unfortunately falls for the handsome and kind, but all too awkward, Christian (Kelvin Harrison Jr). Cyrano comes up with the idea to feed Christian his poetry and panache, in order to woo Roxanne, from afar! But aside from their plan, further complications arise when De Guiche (Ben Mendelsohn), a powerful nobleman, also has his eye on Roxanne...

Peter Dinklage is absolutely fantastic. This is the sort of part he can play in his sleep, and he takes to this like a fish to water. Honestly he reminds us why he is such an excellent actor, and it is refreshing to see him escape from the shackles of "Game of Thrones". He carries this film on his shoulders, particularly very early on when he cements that wit and brilliance of the character with his rap battle against an actor at the start, setting the tone for what he'll be doing here.
And it is a classic story, with good reason, worth it solely for him. The staging is immaculate, the costuming gorgeous, the colour sumptuous.
It's also a musical.
And the music is quite nice, not quite as catchy and brilliant as something like "In the Heights" or "West Side Story", with highlights being a song partway through blending the voices of our three leads, and a heart-breaking, soaring song by soldiers in the third act.
Watch it for Dinklage, stay for the sweet retelling of the fairy tale, and leave thinking that Mendelsohn was re-enacting a music video for "The Cure" in his sequence.