Streets of Venice

I picked up Casanova (2005) at a library DVD sale. How bad could Heath Ledger as Casanova be? Not bad at all.

It starts with Casanova as a little boy. His mother leaves him with his grandmother, and promises to come back. In the next scene, Heath Ledger is the grown-up Casanova. Mom is taking her time. 

Ledger, apparently incognito, walks through Venice, listening to scandalous gossip abouit himself. He visits his friend the Doge, who likes him, but lets him know that the church will force him into exile unless he changes his ways. So Ledger gets engaged to a beautiful blonde virgin, Natalie Dormer. 

But Ledger later runs into, and fall in love with, Sienna Miller. Miller is an intellectual, who secretly writes feminist tracts under a pseudonym. Since she abhors the libertine Casanova, he pretends to be his servant. Since her family has run out of money, she is engaged to be married to rich Patrizzio (Oliver Platt). So Ledger decides to reveal his true identity - he is Patrizzio! When the real Patrizzio shows up, Ledger and crew waylay him, tell him his hotel is closed, take him to a palazzo, steal his clothes, etc. The old sit-com run-around.

All of this is mildly amusing, and very beautiful. The movie was filmed in Venice, and uses it well. The actors are good looking, and include a few faves, like Jeremy Irons, Lena Olin, and Charlie Cox. However, I can't say this really stuck with me. The romance(s) struck me as a bit shallow (makes sense for Casanova), and the hijinks not fully "rollicking". 

All in all, a pleasant watch, but maybe not needed as part of my permanent collection.