Baseshment I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

RipDelight This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

InformationRap This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Deanna There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

utgard14 Fictionalized story based on the historical figure of Casanova. It's a chick flick with a decent cast that has little to work with. Heath Ledger is alright but it's a fluff part so don't expect much. Sienna Miller is pretty but forgettable. Jeremy Irons and Oliver Platt are slumming. Dolla dolla bill y'all! It's supposed to be a comedy but I didn't laugh once. I was bored throughout most of it. I hate to pick on it because it's not a poorly-made movie. Just not something that interests me much. If you're a big fan of Ledger or Miller, or if you just like these types of movies, you might enjoy this more than I did. Otherwise avoid it because it's not funny or sexy and certainly not romantic. It's just kind of there.

kaiser100 Casanova is an exuberant, funny film with a clever plot, quality acting, witty dialogue, action, and of course, romance. Of special note are delightful turns by Jeremy Irons as the dastardly Inquisitor and Oliver Platt as a hilarious, bumbling lard merchant. The lush Venetian location shooting and charming soundtrack also add considerably to its appeal. I found Casanova great fun to watch and well worth repeat viewing. It's too bad it didn't get more attention when it was released at the end of 2005 and I feel it deserves a higher ranking on IMDb. But then I am a sucker for well-made, light-hearted movies that exist purely for the sake of entertainment, and that is exactly what Casanova is.

moonspinner55 In 1753 Venice, Casanova--the reigning king of debauchery and master seducer of all innocent maidens--is saved from execution through circumstance but must find a wife immediately or be expelled from Italy; he schemes to wed a klutzy beauty (allegedly the only virgin in Venice!), yet becomes obsessed with a fiery pre-feminist who has been promised to the rich and vulgar Paprizzio. In the leading role, ostensibly a showy part for any young actor, Heath Ledger certainly carries himself with the impudent gait of a stud; still, the talented Ledger is perhaps too low-key for such a role. He mumbles, he fidgets, he throws away his lines with too-modern a shrug. And if Ledger's casting fails to pay off, Jeremy Irons is even more dispiriting as the imposing Pucci (Irons does slide effortlessly into 18th-century garb, but he doesn't connect with anyone else on-screen--he could be acting in a mirror). Lasse Hallström directed in agreeable spirits, though his sense of bawdy interplay never hits any dizzy highs. Hallström keeps the camera moving and the action bustling, but his sense of fun is grounded when a more fanciful touch was called for. *1/2 from ****

mr_popcorn Francesca Bruni: "Give me a man who is man enough to give himself just to the woman who is worth him. If that woman were me I would love him alone and forever." History's most renowned ladies' man finally meets his match in this historical romance laced with comedy and adventure. In Venice in 1753, Giacomo Casanova (Heath Ledger) is a notorious playboy whose way with women goes too far when he's caught leaving the bedroom of a novice nun, and one of the leading prosecutors of the Inquisition, Pucci (Jeremy Irons), puts him on trial. The Doge (Tim McInnerny), Venice's political point man, is a friend of Casanova's and pulls strings to get him off the hook and allow him to stay in the city, but under one condition -- he must take a wife and remain faithful to her. Casanova sets his sights on Victoria (Natalie Dormer), a lovely young maiden who is obviously taken with the handsome ladykiller, but he's not the only one who wants her hand. Giovanni Bruni (Charlie Cox) is a young man who is very much in love with Victoria, and in order to move him out of the picture, Casanova challenges him to a duel. However, when Casanova is bested in swords in the challenge, he discovers he's actually been parrying with Giovanni's sister, Francesca (Sienna Miller). As Casanova gets to know Francesca, he discovers she's a gifted writer and a bright and independent woman as well as a good hand with a sword, and he comes to the realization that she's the woman he wants to take to the altar. However, Francesca has already been promised to the vain and chubby Papprizzio (Oliver Platt), a man she's never met, and she doesn't seem at all interested in the notorious Casanova.First off, if you're looking for an accurate piece of the legendary womanizer, you have to turn back...now. This film is as inaccurate as it can be and proud of it. A farce is what they call it and its all good, clean fun. The late, great Heath Ledger stars as titular character Giacomo Casanova, Jeremy Irons as the General Inquisitor, Oliver Platt as chubby Paprizzio and Sienna Miller as ladylove Francesca Bruni.A great choice of cast seeing as how they nailed each respective roles. Seems to me, they had fun while making the movie and just enjoyed each and every moment. A pretty good historical farce which is more like a parody to the legend.