OK film fans, we're nearing the weekend but tonight I've definitely hit the wall. Last night I was feeling a little rambunctious and didactic so I got on my soapbox and, I have to admit, it was a lot of fun. But since I'm lacking the energy to wax poetic tonight I'm going to leave it up to an old favorite of mine Steve Martin.
There was a time when Martin was more than phone-it-in actor making films for a paycheck. In the 70s he was a chart topping comedian, host extraordinaire on SNL and began a nice career as a writer/actor with a string of cleverly conceived and scripted films. For me personally, he reached his peak as a screenwriter in 1987 with his modern retelling of the classic French play Cyrano de Bergerac.
Roxanne is a playful, witty, comedy about a single man, C.D. "Charlie" Bales (Steve Martin), who is an intelligent, well-read, funny fire chief in a mountain town near a ski resort. He is loved (and sometimes feared) by his family, friends, co-workers and the residents of the town. Normally this type of man would have his pick of women, but Charlie has a minor issue holding him back: his nose. Charlie has a great big nose.
The play this film is based on has been a mainstay; revisited by each new generation because it touches on a communal human experience, fear of ridicule based on our deepest insecurities. Martin's screenplay is masterful as it sets up Charlie as a really nice guy, that kind everyone loves but who never ends up with the girl. To balance the other side of the equation we meet the new hire to Charlie's fire department, Chris McConnell (Rick Rossovich), a professional firefighter hired to help train the volunteer firefighters.
Chris is the tall, dark and handsome leading man type, but he has issues of his own. While everyone is convinced he's a lady killer the truth is he is both shy and insecure about his intelligence. When a tall, beautiful blond astronomer Roxanne Kowalski (Daryl Hannah) comes to town in search of a comet both men are stricken by her presence. Martin's script shows us, and once again this is the sign of a good film, the differences between the two men and their initial interactions with Roxanne. Charlie's initial meeting with Roxanne is filled with the genial banter you find with someone who you instantly share a connection with. Chris' first meeting with her is via exchanged glances across a restaurant. As the gaze lingers, his shyness gets the better of him and wanting to avoid talking to her, he escapes out the bathroom window.
While Chris is dodging her, Charlie displays just how clever, and manly, he is in one of my favorite comedy scenes in film. Roxanne is impressed but Charlie, stilted by his insecurity over his nose, chooses not to make his feelings about her known. Martin establishes Charlie, through effortless insight and wit, as the superior suitor, but the crux of the film has yet to come. Shortly after the previously posted scene, Roxanne asks to speak with Charlie alone.
In my favorite scene from the film, Roxanne and Charlie hike up a gorgeous mountainside, and with Charlie thinking she is about to reveal her interest in him, she asks him to prod Chris to pursue her. The blocking of the scene shows the heartbreak Charlie tries to hide. In broad daylight, they talk face to face, almost circling each other like Jr. High kids working up the confidence to ask each other out. And at the precise moment Charlie realizes Roxanne isn't talking about him, he turns away from her, for a second or two, and we see the crestfallen expression on his face before he swallows heavily and turns back into the conversation without missing a beat. The scene ends with my favorite exchange in the film.
Roxanne Kowalski: You know you were really great the other night. It's the first time I've ever seen anyone actually be brave.
Charlie Bales: Oh, I've been a lot braver since then.
Of course this request leads into the well known premise of the more intelligent man writing a letter for the more handsome man to pass as his own. When it's time for them to meet, the slapstick comedian in Martin makes an appearance, creating an opportunity for some of Martin's best writing, both comedic and romantic.
In the end, and if you think this is a spoiler I truly feel sorry for you, Roxanne discovers the letters, Chris leaves town with a bartender he shares more in common with and Charlie finds himself alone. That is until Roxanne realizes the person who wrote the letters, who moved and seduced her is the person she should have pursued. In one of the few Hollywood endings I love more than the alternative (Act V), she does just that.
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