Okay, I understand. Well, whether it had to be or not, in this version it was. To the detriment of character development, as we both agree.
You’re absolutely right about this, but it doesn’t happen in this version. In the first such scene, the fight with Valvert, it becomes merely a sword fight, and the showpiece scene in which Cyrano improvises a poem while fighting, “And then as I end the refrain, strike home,” is lost. Instead, the death of Valvert is rather gruesomely lingered over, with what struck me as homoerotic overtones. (Not that there’s anything wrong with homoeroticism generally, but it seemed wildly inappropriate here.)
The second insult scene, where Cyrano first meets Christian and has to endure the newbie’s insults because of his promise to Roxanne, is completely cut, so we lose that insight into Christian’s character.
So the nose/stature switch robs the show of two signature scenes that not only provide comedy, drama, and action, but also are critical to the development of two of the three leading characters.
This seems like a fatal flaw to me. Of course, most people seeing the movie won’t be familiar with the original play and/or the the two earlier movies so they won’t know what they’re missing.
Youse guys are too classy for me. I really enjoyed Roxanne with Steve Martin. That said, I think I will give this one a pass. Making it a rustic musical seems a step too far.
I understand why the “short jokes” might be cut, but honestly, altering the “your nose is rather large” to “Monsieur is rather short” and reeling off an equivalent volley of observations/statements as Cyrano did in the original (and most adaptions) would have been a wonderful parallel. If they could have pulled it off with the proper combination of self-depreciation and dignity required.
Roxanne was actually surprisingly true to the original in my opinion, without being strictly bound by it (hence the change in title). Certainly, there were many homages to the original in it.
I agree with an emphasis on that “if” and believing it is a big and difficult “if” with significant downside to missing the mark. I get choosing not to attempt that; I don’t get eliminating demonstrating his panache with his words as weapons in response to someone trying to bully him regarding his exceptional characteristic.
