Casanova

Review By: Mike Masri
MikeMasri@TheCinemaSource.com

He's the legendary lover from the 18th century. Every man wanted to be him, every woman wanted him. Casanova is the story of the world's most famous "player" of all times, Giacomo Casanova.

There are a variety of ways to tell the story of Casanova. Probably the most obvious would be to tell the story as a romantic film. However, the tale of Casanova can be told as a drama due to all the different affairs and problems the character is renowned for. The story could even be told as one of action, since Casanova is also to be believed to have acted as a spy at times in his life.

Jeffrey Hatcher and Kimberly Simi, the writers of Casanova, chose to mix all the ideas of Casanova and create a comedy that encompassed a little bit of everything. This version of legend gives homage to all other versions in one way or another.

Casanova is not so much about the life if Casanova (Heath Ledger), but about his greatest love. Casanova can have just about any women he wants due to his romantic tactics, but this is something greatly frowned upon by the Church. When given the choice of settling down with one woman or leaving Venice, Casanova begins his search for a bride.

The decision isn't a hard one at first for Casanova. However, once he realizes he has chosen the wrong bride the plot thickens. The woman Casanova falls for is the only woman, who won't have him. This is something the legendary seductress can't have so he devises a plot to disguise himself. Casanova manages to win his true love's, Francesca Bruni ( Sienna Miller), heart through deception. This only opens up a new can of worms for Casanova. Casanova must find a way to prove his love, justify his lies, and avoid the repercussions of the Church.

The movie is funny and will have the audience laughing at times. The plot is solid enough for a comedy. The only problems are that there are times where you will laugh, but say that would never happen that way in real life. Then again you have to remember it's a movie and they get to bend reality a bit.

The acting in the film was quite good. Miller and Ledger had great screen chemistry, which is very important when playing the part of lovers.

This of course wasn't Ledger's first time ...