# Roxanne (film)
**Roxanne** is a 1987 American romantic comedy directed by Fred Schepisi, written by and starring [Steve Martin](https://www.edgepedia.org/steve-martin) as a small-town fire chief whose enormous nose keeps him from pursuing the woman he loves, and adapted from [Edmond Rostand](https://www.edgepedia.org/edmond-rostand)'s play *Cyrano de Bergerac*.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/roxanne) Daryl Hannah plays Roxanne Kowalski, an astronomy student, and [Rick Rossovich](https://www.edgepedia.org/rick-rossovich) plays Chris McConnell, the handsome fireman she initially notices.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/roxanne) The film was released by Columbia Pictures on June 19, 1987.[2](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/MovieDetails/57803)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release | June 19, 1987 (United States and Canada), distributed by Columbia Pictures[2](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/MovieDetails/57803) • [3](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093886/releaseinfo/) |
| Director / writer | Fred Schepisi; screenplay by Steve Martin, his first solo screenplay[2](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/MovieDetails/57803) |
| Source | Modern retelling of Edmond Rostand's play *Cyrano de Bergerac*[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/roxanne) |
| Cast | Steve Martin (C.D. Bales), Daryl Hannah (Roxanne Kowalski), Rick Rossovich (Chris McConnell), Shelley Duvall (Dixie), Fred Willard (Mayor Deebs)[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/roxanne) • [4](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/roxanne-1987) |
| Rating / runtime | PG; 107 minutes[2](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/MovieDetails/57803) |
| Box office | $40,050,884 domestic gross on a $4,582,398 opening weekend[5](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0093886/) |
| Critical scores | 88% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer (43 reviews); Metascore 73 on Metacritic[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/roxanne) • [6](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/roxanne/critic-reviews/) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
C.D. Bales (Steve Martin) is the witty, intelligent, and brave fire chief of a small [Pacific Northwest](https://www.edgepedia.org/pacific-northwest) ski town who, because of the size of his enormous nose, declines to pursue Roxanne Kowalski ([Daryl Hannah](https://www.edgepedia.org/daryl-hannah)), the woman of his dreams.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/roxanne) After the timid junior firefighter Chris McConnell (Rick Rossovich) falls for Roxanne, Bales supplies the good-looking young man with romantic lines to capture her heart, letting her be drawn to Chris's appearance alongside C.D.'s language.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/roxanne) • [7](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1987/06/19/roxanne-a-cyrano-no/cf284734-0026-490d-b15c-a36a1453c901/)
The AFI Catalog synopsis adds the setup: Roxanne, an astrophysics student, has moved to the town of Nelson for the summer, and comes to the fire station naked after locking herself out of her house; C.D. climbs to her roof, enters through an open window, and unlocks the front door for her.[2](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/MovieDetails/57803) Unlike Rostand's tragedy, the story resolves without death: Chris runs off to Reno with a barmaid, leaving Roxanne free to realize whom she actually loves.[8](https://crisismagazine.com/vault/on-screen-roxanne) Los Angeles Times critic Sheila Benson credited Martin's adaptation with being "cannily inventive" in getting Chris off the scene, replacing Rostand's war with the diversionary character Sandy, a cheerful bartender.[9](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-06-19-ca-4856-story.html)
## Production
**Writing.** According to the AFI Catalog, *Roxanne* marked the first solo screenplay by actor-writer Steve Martin, who had collaborated on previous scripts; in a July 1987 New York Times article, Martin reported he went through twenty-five drafts.[2](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/MovieDetails/57803) Martin said he had been drawn to *Cyrano de Bergerac* since childhood, after seeing the 1950 movie version starring [José Ferrer](https://www.edgepedia.org/jose-ferrer).[2](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/MovieDetails/57803) He told the Los Angeles Times that he decided to update *Cyrano* because it had a solid story and four or five payoff scenes, "a vehicle that I could be funny in."[10](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-06-30-ca-1320-story.html)
**Shooting.** Production ran from August 11 to late October 1986.[2](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/MovieDetails/57803) The hilly, old-fashioned ski town of the film was actually [Nelson, British Columbia](https://www.edgepedia.org/nelson-british-columbia), whose wooden houses and broad porches gave the story its small-town ambiance.[9](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-06-19-ca-4856-story.html) Martin wore a large prosthetic nose, which he put on every day for three months of production.[11](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1987/06/19/steve-martin-on-the-up-and-up/667ab17b-f7a8-4dbf-afb1-ab8cab8f84b9/) The Los Angeles Times noted the physical demands of the part: carrying a movie for 90 minutes with a four-inch prosthetic nose jutting from the face.[10](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-06-30-ca-1320-story.html) The crew included cinematographer Ian Baker, editor John Scott, and production designer Jack DeGovia; the production companies were Indieprod and LA Films.[2](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/MovieDetails/57803)
## Reception
**Box office.** The film opened domestically on June 19, 1987, grossing $4,582,398 on its opening weekend and $40,050,884 in total domestically.[5](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0093886/) After thirty-one days of release it had taken in $25.9 million, according to the July 21, 1987 Variety box-office chart.[2](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/MovieDetails/57803) The Los Angeles Times reported in October 1987 that it was one of the summer's big hits and was expected to be a popular Christmas rental when RCA/Columbia released it on home video on December 10.[12](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-10-02-ca-7463-story.html)
**Critics.** The film holds an 88% Tomatometer rating on Rotten Tomatoes from 43 reviews, with the critics consensus calling it "an unabashedly romantic comedy that remains one of Steve Martin's funniest films."[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/roxanne) Metacritic records a Metascore of 73, with 15 positive, 3 mixed, and 1 negative review among 19 counted.[6](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/roxanne/critic-reviews/) Roger Ebert, the [Chicago Sun-Times](https://www.edgepedia.org/chicago-sun-times) critic from 1967 until his death in 2013, wrote that what makes the film wonderful is "the way the movie creates a certain ineffable spirit," and that the play still strikes a universal note because everyone secretly fears being ridiculed for some attribute.[4](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/roxanne-1987) Time Out called it "far and away [Martin's] richest film to date, lyrical, sweet-natured, touching, and very, very funny," and the Washington Post's Hal Hinson called it the most unabashed and satisfying romantic movie in years.[6](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/roxanne/critic-reviews/) Reception was not uniform: the Washington Post's Desson Howe called the film a "frustrating update" of Rostand, writing that without the comedy it was a pallid condensation of the original.[7](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1987/06/19/roxanne-a-cyrano-no/cf284734-0026-490d-b15c-a36a1453c901/)
## The adaptation from Rostand
Roxanne transposes the plot of *Cyrano de Bergerac* to a 1980s American small town: the swordsman-poet Cyrano becomes fire chief C.D. Bales, Roxane becomes the astronomer Roxanne, and Christian becomes the fireman Chris.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/roxanne) The most often praised modernization is the balcony scene, in which C.D. radios his words to Chris, who wears a hat with earflaps to conceal the earphone; Ebert called it the movie's funniest scene.[4](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/roxanne-1987) Crisis magazine's 1987 review argued that the film, in giving C.D.'s eloquence full weight, paid a greater implicit tribute to language than a five-act play in rhymed alexandrines.[8](https://crisismagazine.com/vault/on-screen-roxanne) The story has since been adapted again in [Joe Wright](https://www.edgepedia.org/joe-wright)'s 2022 musical *[Cyrano](https://www.edgepedia.org/cyrano-film)* starring [Peter Dinklage](https://www.edgepedia.org/peter-dinklage), in which the title character's insecurity stems from his stature rather than his nose.[13](https://time.com/6151028/cyrano-review/)
## References
1. [Roxanne, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/roxanne)
2. [Roxanne (1987), AFI Catalog](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/MovieDetails/57803)
3. [Roxanne (1987) Release info, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093886/releaseinfo/)
4. [Roxanne movie review & film summary, Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times, June 19, 1987](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/roxanne-1987)
5. [Roxanne (1987), Box Office Mojo](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0093886/)
6. [Roxanne critic reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/roxanne/critic-reviews/)
7. ['Roxanne' a Cyrano-no, Desson Howe, The Washington Post, June 18, 1987](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1987/06/19/roxanne-a-cyrano-no/cf284734-0026-490d-b15c-a36a1453c901/)
8. [On Screen: Roxanne, Crisis Magazine, October 1, 1987](https://crisismagazine.com/vault/on-screen-roxanne)
9. [Movie Review: Romance of 'Roxanne', Sheila Benson, Los Angeles Times, June 19, 1987](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-06-19-ca-4856-story.html)
10. [His nose for comedy puts him on the hit list, Los Angeles Times, June 30, 1987](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-06-30-ca-1320-story.html)
11. [Steve Martin, on the up and up, The Washington Post, June 18, 1987](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1987/06/19/steve-martin-on-the-up-and-up/667ab17b-f7a8-4dbf-afb1-ab8cab8f84b9/)
12. [RCA/Columbia aims 'Roxanne' at Christmas market, Los Angeles Times, October 2, 1987](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-10-02-ca-7463-story.html)
13. [Peter Dinklage fronts a new Cyrano, with mixed results, Stephanie Zacharek, Time, February 2022](https://time.com/6151028/cyrano-review/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Comedy and romantic films (individual works) › Comedies of the 1980s*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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