“It must be wonderful to wake up and smell the coffee… in Brazil.” I used to rewatch Roxanne (1987) repeatedly as a kid so it’s a personal favourite, which holds up to me as a meeting point between Steve Martin’s ‘wild and crazy guy’ hipster goofball persona and his artistic ambitions to be taken seriously. Martin wrote the script, updating Cyrano De Bergerac to play the big-nosed fire chief CD Bales of a picturesque mountain town called Nelson. Playing to an invisible audience with his antics and one-liners, Martin is a wacky character who starts to become grounded when he meets a new resident, the astronomy researcher Roxanne (Daryl Hannah). CD starts to fall in love with her but can’t get past his nose (convincingly conveyed in the make-up). Yet Roxanne is taken with the new second in command at the fire house, Chris (Rick Rossovich) who is a tongue tied himbo – the scene is set for Martin’s take on the premise where both men conspire to woo Roxanne, Chris’ looks with CD’s words. While a rom-com plot about identity deception and manipulation may not have as much traction as it used to (see also: the 90s variation, The Truth About Cats And Dogs), and there has to be some magical realism level of thinking for Roxanne to mistake Steve Martin’s voice for Rick Rossovich – it is an overall farce that has both big comedy gags and a romantic sensitivity at points. It’s all beautifully served by the British Columbia autumnal locations and director Fred Schepsi’s wide-screen cinematic approach to everything (letting things unfurl in a medium shot or a single take). And I’m sure people will come at this movie for its score, which sounds like Kenny G’s cinematic debut. Or the most saxophone that’s ever happened to a movie score. But I just love Bruce Smeaton’s mellow, schmaltzy music – it creates such a woozy vibe. Not to mention there’s a great supporting cast including the delightful Shelly Duvall as Martin’s god-sister Didi, and the wonderful comic actors who make up the bumbling troop of fire fighters including Michael J. Pollard, John Kapelos, Damon Wayans, and the late, great Fred Willard as the mayor (truly makes the most of his supporting screen time). Streamed on ABC iView in Australia; also available on iTunes. Recommended.
VHS Tracking 