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adriema
Reviews
Cyrano (2021)
Might Have Loved, If...
Many reviews seem to be focused on politics or socially diverging views but please, allow me to draw another comparison.
Imagine visiting a new restaurant and spotting cottage pie on the menu. Having had cottage pie before and having adored it, you place your order. A dish comes, steaming and heaping with food, but instead of ground meat on your plate there are slabs of turkey. Instead of the usual peas and carrots, there are radishes and bok choy. Where your mashed potatoes ought to rest are shoestring fries and atop the whole dish, in place of a savory sauce is an apricot spiked dijon dressing. Hm, I might have to make that but if I did and if it was any good, I'd have no idea what to call it.
I despise labels but sometimes they're useful. If I see cottage pie on a menu I can expect, if not a certain experience, then at least certain ingredients. If a movie is labeled Cyrano but adulterates numerous classic traits of the play then it is not Cyrano, and ought to be presented under a unique title so I can experience it for what it is instead of expecting it to be something I'm already familiar with.
The movie 'The Ugly Truth' has aspects of Cyrano-namely, an inept, would-be love interest using the words of an another to woo the object of their affection. Yet it does not go by the title of Cyrano because too many aspects of the original are absent. That's all. I could imagine some arguing that this is a bit like Hugo's Notre Dame de Paris without the Hunchback, but that's another discussion.
The Spruces and the Pines (2017)
So Much Potential...and that's it
Could have been hilarious. Needed a character named Bruce Spruce, since they went with the last name tree-theme. The feud between the families begs an explanation, especially since they're selling two different products and therefore, aren't truly in direct competition.
Time and location aren't divulged, and none of the actors ever behave as if there's a chill in the air. So much of the dialogue is contrived, obviously designed to give details about the characters without developing the plot.
Sadly falls prey to a common plight: all the male characters act and speak like little girls, perhaps in an effort to make the main female character seem strong in comparison.
I was looking forward to a light-hearted, fun movie to get me in the holiday Spirit, especially after all those Halloween slasher movies. This however did not deliver. Bad writing, bad acting, bad music, just bad.