Entertainment

Cult Movies: Roxanne

Steve Martin shines opposite Daryl Hannah in his 1987 Cyrano De Bergerac adaptation, Roxanne
Steve Martin shines opposite Daryl Hannah in his 1987 Cyrano De Bergerac adaptation, Roxanne Steve Martin shines opposite Daryl Hannah in his 1987 Cyrano De Bergerac adaptation, Roxanne

Roxanne

SOME will tell you Steve Martin’s greatest movie moments came early in his big screen career, and it's easy to see why.

The freewheeling absurdity of efforts like The Jerk or the knowing charm of manic spoofs like Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid and The Man With Two Brains are pretty magical in their own faintly unhinged kind of way.

In terms of straight forward commercial success though, the former stand-up stalwart and future award-winning bluegrass banjo plucker really delivered the goods in the late 80s.

With box office bounty like Trains, Planes and Automobiles, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and Parenthood, Steve Martin established himself as one of Hollywood’s true A listers.

The film which kick-started that purple patch of mainstream acclaim also stands proud as one of his greatest ever achievements.

Released in 1987, and re-issued this month on Blu-ray by Eureka Home Entertainment, Roxanne is little short of a masterclass in romcom movie making.

Big hearted without ever falling into maudlin territory, it's a laugh-out-loud comedy with a genuine romantic streak running a mile wide at its very heart.

As the central performer and scriptwriter, Steve Martin has rarely flown higher either.

He plays CD Bale (the initials being a nice nod to Cyrano De Bergerac, the classic play upon which Martin based his script), a feisty fire chief in a small American resort town who just happens to have an extra large nose.

He’s a popular and respected figure in the community but one who’s understandably sensitive about his most prominent feature. Steer clear of mentioning that huge hooter and everything will be fine.

Try to crack a gag about it though and you may wind up, as two would-be wise guys do at the start of the film, face down in the gutter courtesy of the man's handiness with a tennis racket.

Things get complicated when a good looking astronomer Roxanne (Daryl Hannah) moves into town and takes a fancy to one of Bale’s handsome young fire fighters.

Trouble is, Chris (Rick Rossovich) is clueless around girls. He can’t string a sentence together, so the rather more erudite Bale helps him out by providing a script for his romantic love poetry and suchlike as the young blunderer attempts to woo foxy Roxy.

It almost goes without saying that Bale himself falls hard for Roxanne, but how can a man with a nose like Pinocchio and severe self-esteem issues hope to land a beauty like her?

That’s where the movie weaves its magic and Martin delivers his finest work.

Yes, the themes of love being able to see past physical imperfections and beauty being more than skin deep are cliches of the highest order, but director Fred Schepisi runs a tight ship and overt sentimentality is never allowed to take over completely.

The vibe is light and wistful throughout and Martin gets to explore a deeper human being on screen than he'd done up until that point.

He still gets to act absurd at times and rattle out some truly memorable one-liners, and that’s what keeps Roxanne magical today.

An old-fashioned story told with heart and real empathy, it may lack the crazed qualities of Steve Martin’s earlier work, and indeed possibly paved the way for the less challenging family-friendly work of his later career – but, as a straight-ahead romcom that works on every level, Roxanne wins by a nose every time.