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12 Rounds Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
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$9.99 Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
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Casanova
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MPAA RATING: R for some sexual content
Starring Heath Ledger, Sienna Miller, Jeremy Irons, Oliver Platt, and Lena Olin
1700s Venice. He was the legendary adventurer whose amorous dalliances would go on to inspire countless lovers throughout the centuries. She was the most virtuoso writer of her time who was waiting to find that rare man with a true understanding of steadfastness and passion. When Giacomo Casanova (Ledger) discovers Francesca Bruni (Miller), he met his ultimate romantic match, succumbing to the only woman ever to refuse his charms -- until he could prove himself to be one man worthy of her romantic ideals. (Touchstone Pictures)
| GENRE(S): | Adventure | Comedy | Drama | Romance |
| WRITTEN BY: |
Jeffrey Hatcher
Kimberly Simi (also story) Michael Cristofer (story) |
| DIRECTED BY: | Lasse Hallström |
| RELEASE DATE: |
DVD: April 25, 2006 Theatrical: December 25, 2005 |
| RUNNING TIME: | 108 minutes, Color |
| ORIGIN: | USA |
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
The average user rating for this movie is 5.0 (out of 10) based on 40 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Hitchhiker C. gave it a1:
Add asinine silliness (of Hilary Duff proportions) to Hallstrom's usual life-is-beautiful banality, and you should have a pretty good picture of how this trashy excuse for a movie goes!
Jane D. gave it a9:
This is an awful, stupid movie. That said, I saw it twice in the theater just for the Oliver Platt/Lena Olin subplot. They are insanely adorable.
David Z. gave it a7:
Very enjoyable. Don't expect wonders and watch a likable tale.
Ken G. gave it a3:
A mess. The filmmakers were clueless as to how to handle the subject matter, which had no business coming off as slow, dull, and plodding as it does. Fimmakers might have intended to have fun with this premise, but they had no idea how to do it. The love story between Ledger and Miller is so clumsily handled, that it just doesn't work.
Gary B. gave it a9:
A Venetian caprice in which Guardi and Caneletto are brought to life in an operatic buffo plot of delightful visual and dramatic allure. One of the delights of the year.
Carol Y. gave it a7:
Entertaining frothy romp. Good acting by even minor characters.
Mark B. gave it a6:
It's ironic that this sporadically lively, frothy period romp about the famous Italian lover is a near-miss for two different but interlocking reasons. Very simply, the title performance absolutely does not work: even giving much allowance for the plot requirement that Casanova has to constantly elude various legal, clerical and other establishment figures without being recognized, Heath Ledger's stiff, humorless performance is absolutely not what the role calls for. In fact, from a technical standpoint his work here is not all that far removed from his stunning work as a taciturn, inarticulate cowpoke attempting to deal with forbidden desires he didn't know he was capable of having in the current Brokeback Mountain, but while that breakthrough performance was Brokeback's emotional anchor, in Casanova's instance it weighs this movie down in far less satisfying ways. That's a real shame, bacause much of what's going on above, below and around Ledger is a real treat; director Lasse Hallstrom (My Life As A Dog) has spent the last several years of his life doing so much well-acted but overrated Oscar bait for the Weinstein brothers as The Cider House Rules, Chocolat and The Shipping News that it's really an enjoyable surprise to see him working with a lighter touch than we've seen since ABBA: The Movie! Jeremy Irons, playing an officious, self-righteous priest on Cas's trail is tremendously enjoyable, playing him as a cross between Snidely Whiplash and Jeffrey Jones' hapless high school vice-principal from Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Sienna Miller, as our hero's fiery intellectual as well as romantic/erotic match, is so vibrant and joyously sexual that I found myself asking more than once if Jude Law's got a screw loose or what; Lena Olin matches Miller's appeal and adds an irresistable blend of slyness and subtle vulnerability. And then there's Oliver Platt, who for the second time in as many moviegoing months steals the whole picture. In The Ice Harvest he actually made chronic alcoholism rather endearing, and here he makes overeating absolutely lovable; if you've made certain dietary New Year's resolutions, beware...because watching an Oliver Platt movie will probably be more detrimental to your faithfulness than attending a Super Bowl party!
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