Ledger as 'Casanova' isn't a huge stretch

The movie is not only romantic but also witty.
By CHRIS HEWITT
St. Paul Pioneer Press
Is there anyone Heath Ledger won't have sex with this holiday season?
Fresh from romancing Jake Gyllenhaal in "Brokeback Mountain," he gets busy with half the women in Venice in "Casanova," a movie I'm forced to call a romp even though I can't stand that word.
But romp "Casanova" does as it finds the randy hero meeting the woman of his dreams while he's pretending to be someone else, a deception that complicates things for him and for the nobleman (Oliver Platt) he's pretending to be.
Lasse Hallstrom, whose previous movies, such as "Chocolat," have not shown a light touch, has one here, making the movie witty and romantic. The jokes are broad, but the playing of them is expert.
Jokes that work
Take, for instance, a scene where Platt proudly shows two guests -- Casanova and his manservant -- a painting in which the artist has Jenny Craiged about 150 pounds off of Platt's ample form: The servant asks, "Who is it?" And, as realization sinks in that it's supposed to be Platt, the three characters stand there looking at each other awkwardly for about 30 seconds.
It's a moment that could have been played broadly, but the actors understate it, and the result is that we feel invited into the scene. The characters don't laugh -- as people in that situation probably wouldn't -- but we do.
"Casanova" is romantic, not realistic. Instead of Mr. C contracting gonorrhea, as he did in real life, we get fireworks displays, bursts of Vivaldi-like music (some of which actually is Vivaldi), poetry and mistaken-identity farce. The message is "Love conquers all," and, while that's an odd message for a movie about history's biggest (and most diseased) rake, it's also a nice message any time we can get it.