''Bigger Than the Sky'' is a 2005 American

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by Al Corley, written by Rodney Patrick Vaccaro, and starring Marcus Thomas,

John Corbett John Joseph Corbett Jr. (born May 9, 1961) is an American actor and country music singer. On television, he is best known for his roles as Chris Stevens on ''Northern Exposure'' (1990–1995), Aidan Shaw on ''Sex and the City'' (2000–2003), ...

Amy Smart Amy Lysle Smart (born March 26, 1976) is an American actress. A native of Los Angeles, Smart began her career modelling in Italy and subsequently enrolled in acting school. Her first role in film was in director Martin Kunert's anthology horror ...

Sean Astin Sean Patrick Astin (né Duke; February 25, 1971) is an American actor. His acting roles include Samwise Gamgee in ''The Lord of the Rings'' trilogy (2001–2003), Mikey Walsh in ''The Goonies'' (1985), Daniel Ruettiger in ''Rudy'' (1993), Doug ...

Clare Higgins Clare Frances Elizabeth Higgins (born 10 November 1955) is an English actress. Her film appearances include ''Hellraiser'' (1987), '' The Worst Witch'' (2017 - 2020) '' Hellbound: Hellraiser II'' (1988), ''Small Faces'' (1996) and ''The Golden ...

, and

Patty Duke Anna Marie "Patty" Duke (December 14, 1946 – March 29, 2016) was an American actress and mental health advocate. Over the course of her acting career, she was the recipient of an Academy Award, two Golden Globe Awards, three Primetime Emmy Aw ...

. Its plot follows a man, who after breaking up with his girlfriend, auditions for a local community theatre production of ''

Cyrano de Bergerac Savinien de Cyrano de Bergerac ( , ; 6 March 1619 – 28 July 1655) was a French novelist, playwright, epistolarian, and duelist. A bold and innovative author, his work was part of the libertine literature of the first half of the 17th cen ...

''.

Plot

After being rejected by his girlfriend, Peter Rooker, an art-department employee in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

, decides to audition for a small role in an upcoming local community theatre's production of ''Cyrano de Bergerac''. Despite the fact that Peter has no experience or skill as an actor, the director casts Peter as Cyrano, as the lead. Peter soon becomes caught up in the various intrigues of the "theater people", including the charming but mercurial Michael Degan, the beautiful leading lady Grace Hargrove, and a cast of other eccentric players. Gradually, Peter discovers that in the world of theater, the normal rules do not apply, but in the end, everyone has a role. As Peter struggles with his acting, clearly he is not going to be ready for opening night. An experienced, but universally disliked actor, Ken Zorbell, is brought in to play Cyrano. Realizing the writing is on the wall, Peter asks the director to let him relinquish the role and take another role as a background character. On opening night, the lead has not appeared, and the director asks Peter, who has never rehearsed the role, to play Cyrano. At first, he declines, but then realizing it is his dream, he plays Cyrano with great success.

Cast

Production

The film was shot on location in

Release

The film received a limited release on February 18, 2005, opening in New York City; Los Angeles;

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

;

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

; and

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

Critical response

Writing for ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the crea ...

'', Ed Park noted that the film "lopes along endlessly, a no-surprises foray into backstage high-jinks and the notion of life as the best acting coach there is." Anita Gates of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' wrote: "The surprising thing about ''Bigger Than the Sky'' is its touching ending. A colleague has died, and the company gathers to honor him in an inventive, life-affirming way. Finally, it becomes clear that Mr. Corley's film is meant to be a tribute to the love of theater. It has just been posing as the story of one man's finding himself." Marc Savlov of ''

The Austin Chronicle ''The Austin Chronicle'' is an alternative weekly newspaper published every Thursday in Austin, Texas, United States. The paper is distributed through free news-stands, often at local eateries or coffee houses frequented by its targeted demogr ...

'' awarded the film only a half star out of five, writing: "''Bigger Than the Sky'' feels constrained by its unshakable predisposition toward actorly fawning. This film is so enamored of theatre folk and their lusty lot that you want to slap it about the face and neck and force it to go endure the inevitable hip-hop take on Beckett's existential yawn."

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bigger Than The Sky 2005 films 2005 independent films 2005 romantic comedy films American romantic comedy films Coquette Productions films Films about actors Films about theatre Films based on Cyrano de Bergerac (play) Films set in Portland, Oregon Films shot in Portland, Oregon Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films 2000s English-language films 2000s American films