CasanovaMovie Reviews

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So-so
Avg. Critic Score: 57 out of 100 Mixed or average reviews Metascore® based on all critic reviews
Information for Parents:
16 Iffy for 16+
Read Common Sense Media review

Critic scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

  • 80
    The Hollywood Reporter | Ray Bennett

    A smart and sophisticated comedy romp. Read full review

  • 80
    Variety | Derek Elley

    A handsome chunk of widescreen entertainment that's as nimble as its rakish hero. Read full review

  • 80
    Los Angeles Times | Kevin Thomas

    In the exhilarating Casanova, giddy shenanigans effectively set off the dangerous, darker impulses of human nature. Read full review

  • 75
    Entertainment Weekly | Lisa Schwarzbaum

    And if real eroticism is missing - this is a Disney movie, with bosoms heaving more in a gentle parody of heaving than in full desire - the great discovery of this Casanova is Hallstrm's recovered capacity for play. Read full review

  • 75
    USA Today | Claudia Puig

    Casanova is an entertaining if silly romp, with amusing dialogue, gorgeous production design and painterly cinematography. Venice, where the movie is set, has never been so breathtaking. Read full review

  • 70
    The New York Times | Dana Stevens

    In any case, what is on screen is a delightful respite from awards-season seriousness - a feather film, you might say, that actually tickles. Read full review

  • 50
    Rolling Stone | Peter Travers

    Ledger's comic flair is a big plus in a film that is fanatically busy and fatally sexless. Read full review

  • 50
    San Francisco Chronicle | Mick LaSalle

    A light film, airy, likable and set in Venice. Read full review

  • 50
    Chicago Sun-Times | Roger Ebert

    That the new Casanova lacks such wit is fatal. Heath Ledger is a good actor but Hallstrom's film is busy and unfocused, giving us the view of Casanova's ceaseless activity but not the excitement. It's a sitcom when what is wanted is comic opera. Read full review

  • 50
    Washington Post | Desson Thomson

    The movie Casanova, starring Heath Ledger, not only fetters the randy Venetian in political correctness, it condemns him to dwell inside the modern equivalent of a bad Shakespeare play. Read full review

View more reviews for Casanova on Metacritic

Information for Parents
Common Sense Media says Iffy for 16+ Legendary lover cleans up for happy commitment.
What Parents Need to Know Parents need to know that this romance is focused on the legendary 18th-century lothario, here revised to suit a secret identity plot and his romance with a proto-feminist writer. The film includes some raunchy sexual material, plus jokes about bodily functions (as well as verbal and visual jokes about one character's obesity). References are made to sexual pleasures, "whores," brothels, virgins, "fornication," as well as "coming" and "instrument" (as double entendres). Characters appear in various states of undress, women wear cleavage-revealing dresses. Characters drink at parties; one smokes cigarettes.
  • Families can talk about the representation of marriage, as a means to solidify one's social status, clear one's name, cover up for sexual activity, and gain money. Francesca's argument for women's rights and against men's objectification of women is simplistic but also provides grist for conversation: how can she make her point clear in a film where she's the primary romantic object?
The good stuff
  • message true0 Positive messages: Sexual excess is a theme, though lovers learn to commit to single partners and respect one another.
What to watch for
  • violence false0 Violence: A duel, some rambunctious action.
  • sex false3 Sex: Much discussion of sexual activity, some kissing and revealing clothing, partial undress.
  • language false0 Language: Minor (several uses of "damn" and "hell").
  • consumerism false0 Consumerism: Not an issue
  • drugsalcoholtobacco false3 Drinking, drugs and smoking: Some drinking at parties, brief smoking by one character.
An independent nonprofit dedicated to providing families the information they need to help kids thrive in a world of media and technology. © Common Sense Media Inc. 2010. All rights reserved.

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