Martin turns smoothly to romantic comedy

Press, 25 January 1988, Page 17

Martin turns smoothly to romantic comedy

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hans petrovic

‘ROXANNE’ Directed by Fred Scheplsi Screenplay by Steve Martin In “Roxanne” (Westend), Steve Martin turns from oddball comedy to a much finer form of whimsy. He also manages to poke gentle fun with a part of man’s anatomy that is not usually treated as a laughing matter. C. D. Bales (Martin), the fire chief of a picturesque ski resort in Washington state, is very sensitive about his nose, which may be of heroic proportions, but which he considers a handicap in his amorous pursuits. There is no doubt that C.D. is an engaging young man who enjoys the affection and respect of the entire town, but he simply cannot bear to hear jokes ,about his remarkable, astonishingly large proboscis. Then, the lovely Roxanne (Daryl Hannah) visits the town to search the mountain night skies for a new comet, and to forget an ended love affair. Roxanne soon finds herself attracted from afar to

one of the town’s firefighters, Chris (Rick Rosso vich), whose shy bumbling she mistakes for quiet strength.

Roxanne confides her interest to C.D., who is secretly smitten with her but, nevertheless, somewhat reluctantly passes the news on to Chris.

The uncomplicated young Chris is panicstricken as the thought of carrying on a conversation with such a beautiful, accomplished woman, and so C.D. agrees to ghostwrite a letter to Roxanne — one that, unbeknownst to Chris, is an outpouring of C.D.’s own feelings for her. No more need be told of this story, which so faithfully echoes the poignant romance of Edmond Rostand’s “Cyrano de Bergerac,” which is suppos-

edly based on the real-life exploits of the seven-teenth-century chivalric captain of the guard by the same name, who also happened to be a master swordsman of his day. It is no coincidence, therefore, that the initials of Martin’s name in the film are the same as the original Cyrano, and that when called upon to defend his slighted nose, he can do so masterfully with the swipe of a tennis racket. An accomplished poet, de Bergerac was also one of the earliest forerunners of today’s science-fiction writers with his “Voyages to the Moon and the Sun,” which may well explain why Roxanne in this film is portrayed as an astronomer — her interest in the heavenly bodies being equalled only by C.D.’s interest in her own. “Roxanne,” says the besotted C.D., “there’s a name for a galaxy.” It could also be said that C.D. or Cyrano would be good names for race horses, for they could easily win by a nose. Martin makes much of the nose throughout the film, including one brilliant sequence in which he

tells 20 nose-associated jokes (“Your nose was on time, but you arrived 15 minutes late”; "When you stop to smell flowers, are they afraid?”). After resorting to virtually any idiocy for a laugh in some of his earlier films, Martin, who wrote the screenplay to “Roxanne,” shows that he has matured considerably in his first attempt at romantic comedy. Most of his jokes and sight gags are a joy: C.D. purchases a newspaper from the street vending machine, reads the day’s dismal news, and then puts more money in the machine so that he can replace the offensive paper. The exploits of his volunteer firemen, who are better at lighting fires than putting them out, may only have been included to pad out the film, but are also good for a light laugh. Seen last as a manic dentist in “Little Shop of Horrors” and in a much gentler mood in “Roxanne,” Martin is • getting better with every film. It seems certain that he will not need that nose to win in his next picture.