Apparently Cyrano de Bergerac is more according to the original play and Roxanne is a modified version. Cyrano de Bergerac sets in France, characters speak French, and the story happens in the ancient times. Roxanne sets in America, characters speak English, and the story happens in the 80's.
Since the two movies are based on the same play, both have the basic, main characters. However, the names change in the modern version. Cyrano de Burgerac becomes C.D. (Charlie) Bales. Christian becomes Chris. But Roxanne is still Roxanne. According to the original play, Cyrano and Christian are soldiers, but in "Roxanne" they are firefighters. Roxanne, while in the original play is just a rich young lady, studies astronomy in the modernized version.
The characters behave similar and have the same relationships: Cyrano/C.D. has a big nose but is eloquent and funny. Christian/Chris is handsome but useless when it comes to women. Roxanne seems to be just pretty in the original play, but in the modernized version she has more depth as a character, and smart too.
Of course during different time periods there are different norms. Writing letters to a person you like seems normal in the early times, but it's odd during modern times when you could just use a telephone. That's why in Roxanne C.D. has to "justify" Christian's act of writing letters.
The endings are different, too. The original Cyrano de Bergerac is very tragic. Christian died, Roxanne mourns over his death, and Cyrano doesn't reveal the truth until he is dying. But in Roxanne, it has a happy ending. Christian finds someone he truly loves, Roxanne discovers the truth while she and C.D. are still young and healthy, and everyone is happy. C.D. even finds an advantage for his nose!
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