Casanova

This cheerful, playful Renaissance comedy was very successful. It is contributed to by a high number of famous actors, a witty, situational plot, and a considerable positive energy that radiates to the audience the whole time. Jeremy Irons as the supposedly cruel and fear-inducing inquisitor was fantastic. (2008-09-07)

I would never have believed, but Hallström took on this unusual and joyful subject with the same bravado as Casanova took on women. A light-hearted and irresistibly playful film with a great ensemble of actors. It doesn't try to make the viewer laugh at all costs with cheap humour, but just pleasantly winks at them "Look how I don't take myself seriously at all". Fat Platt, the women in period costumes, the pleasant classical music and the atmosphere of 18th century Venice are to die for (I don't mind the weaker special effects some users here complain about). Perhaps it's just that Ledger lacks the right sparkle that the most famous seducer of women of all time should have, and wouldn't hold up compared to some of his acting predecessors. (2006-09-14)

Seeing Heath Ledger in such a role is just awesome. He's full of life, he's great, he's relaxed, and you can still see what a great actor he is. Lasse Hallström is one of my favorite directors because his films always manage to gently soothe my soul, leaving me feeling content and making the world seem a bit brighter again. (2016-08-01)

Casanova is unexciting at first, coming across as a routine work wrapped in the strains of classical music, with a bland Heath Ledger. But as the pace pickups with the artful screenwriting and the entrance of Jeremy Irons and Oliver Platt (especially the latter!), it starts to heat up and the film turns out to be a tremendously entertaining, almost crazy, modern, joke-laden comedy treat. Director Lasse Hallström excels, while Irons and Platt expose their characters to cartoonish situations. This had to have been a memorable case of hilarious filmmaking for the crew. (2006-01-22)

A historical fizzy fun drama, where the actors have a good time, the writers are quite brilliant in places and the cameraman shows us panoramas of Venice. Hallström's affectionate, almost familial style of directing is undeniable, but the second half pulls the whole thing into a kind of slightly bizarre, modern gag-riddled historical parody, dominated by Irons, Platt and the consistently horny, not yet well-known Natalie Dormer. It’s fun for one time, but don’t expect anything revelatory. (2020-07-07)