So, Cyrano
got snubbed by the Tonys this week, but he’ll live: Edmond Rostand’s 1897 play has fueled
more than its share of reinventions — from Steve Martin’s
Roxanne to a
Three’s Company episode to Hideyo Amamoto’s Samurai version. One of our favorites of recent years comes in the form of
Earano, a charming and hilarious short film directed by and starring Luke Matheny, in which our lead hero has not a giant proboscis but two giant ears, and longs for a beautiful librarian (Emily Young), who has eyes for a hunky Ukrainian janitor. The style is reminiscent of Wes Anderson, with a hint of David Lynch thrown in, but — this being
Cyrano — it’s also quite romantic.
—Bilge Ebiri