Cyrano (2021)

Derived from Erica Schmidt's musical retelling of Edmond Rostand's oft-staged play, Cyrano stars Peter Dinklage as the titular protagonist. Caught in romantic intrigue alongside him is Haley Bennett as Roxanne and Kelvin Harrison Jr. as Christian. The basic plot of this version isn't too different from most of the traditional renditions, but several key alterations are present in both the text and the subtext of Cyrano; this is apparent both in the dialogue and in the songs composed by Aaron and Bryce Dessner of The National. Ryan is joined by Sylvan and Cheryl for a discussion about this striking (if uneven) film. Talking points naturally include unrequited love, the pitfalls of escalating lies, and Sylvan's pet peeve about casting Hollywood musicals with actors who don't have professional singing ability.