By Jeff Hartke, December 24, 2005

What mad passion compels the greatest lover of all time to conquer every woman in his path? Why does he risk death, night after night, at the hands of outraged husbands, fathers and moral authorities? Why can he never seem to find a woman worth staying with for more than a few hours?

Simple. He misses his momma.

No, I am not kidding. This point is made in the first two minutes, no less. But take heart, gentle reader, there is still hope for our poor wounded duck. He can become a fine, moral and completely monogamous pillar of the community - if only he finds the right girl to settle down with.


Lasse Hallström (LHALL) presents Casanova (CNOVA) as a standard romantic comedy, and while its well done, there's nothing here that you haven't seen before. The charming, duplicitous man-on-the-make runs into the thoroughly modern, independent woman who rebuffs his advances, which of course only makes him more interested. Our hero tries one clever scheme after another to win her heart, growing more and more infatuated as time goes on. Of course he must eventually face the consequences of his lies, but true love always tames the most notorious scoundrels - at least in the movies.

As long as the focus is on the farce its good lighthearted fun, with more than a few belly laughs. The writing is crisp, the plot moves along nicely, and the gorgeous finery of renaissance Venice lights up the screen. Heath Ledger (HLEDG) plays Casanova with a roguish smile never far from his lips. Jeremy Irons (JIRON) delights as the deliciously evil Bishop Pucci, who brings the Inquisition to Venice to flush out the corrupt Casanova. He balances the need for intensity and comedy nicely, coming close to an Alan Rickman-like (ARICK) performance without going too far over the top. Omid Djalili is hilarious as Casanova’s valet Lupo, and his faint resemblance to porn star Ron Jeremy is humorously apt. There is plenty of wit and fun, and the cast seem to be genuinely enjoying themselves. As pure comedy the film delivers in spades.


But remember folks, this is a romantic comedy and must ultimately succeed or fail based on the chemistry of the leads. Sad to say, this is the film’s weakest link. Sienna Miller (SMILL) is lovely despite her change to red hair color, but is unable to live up to the demands of her character. Mind you, her role is completely unbelievable – she’s expected to have the qualities of Gloria Steinem, Brigitte Bardot and Sandra Day O’Connor all rolled into one, with a dash of Nadia Comaneci for good measure.

Likewise, Heath Ledger turns in a competent performance, but not much more. I got the impression he was content to go along at about three-quarters speed, relying on an easy charm rather than a charged performance. He does not radiate the intensity and magnetism that you would think the real Casanova possessed by the bucket. Ledger and Miller together are professional and pretty, but they lack the sparkle needed to make a "romance for the ages" believable.



The MPAA assigned an R rating to the film. This had to be a considered decision, since with little (or even no) effort Hallström could have produced a PG-13 cut. There is no nudity, no violence or coarse language, and the sexual situations are infrequent and done with a light touch. One has to wonder if the success of recent R-rated comedies like The 40-Year-Old Virgin and Wedding Crashers entered into the minds of the production staff. Or perhaps they figured that audiences expected a film titled Casanova to be a lusty tale of consenting adults chasing each other around, and would be put off by a PG-13 rating.

And therein lies the rub: Casanova the man, and the artist, was all about love: of the soul, the mind, the spirit - and most of all, the body. It's reasonable to expect that any movie bearing his name would be all about love and sex in all its glory and foolishness. Instead, Hallström serves up a curiously inhibited story that stays modestly within the boundaries of convention and propriety.