Review: 'Casanova' charms; 'Jesus is Magic' not for sensitive

Hallström (“My Life as a Dog,” “What's Eating Gilbert Grape?,” “Chocolat”) plays the story like a classic farce mixed with a healthy helping of cinematic screwball comedy.

At one point in the story, Giacomo Casanova is posing as no less than three other people and taking not only his fiancé, but Francesca, to the Carnivale Ball. Francesca is under the impression Casanova is one Signore Paprizzio, the “lard king of Genoa,” her husband-to-be due to a marriage arranged by her late father.

The real Paprizzio is actually stretched out on a table at Casanova's abode having a concoction consisting mostly of lard spread on his body. It's a beauty treatment. Paprizzio is under the impression that Casanova is actually the female-friendly author Guardi. Guardi himself is no less a fake. He can neither read nor write and is merely a beard for the actual author of the books that come out under his name.

Confused? Don't worry, it makes sense in context.

All the while, the Spanish Inquisition is in town looking for not only Casanova, but the heretical author Guardi. This is before TV, paparazzi or the ubiquitous Internet, so no one really has much of an idea what anyone looks like unless they've previously met. This fact weighs heavily in Casanova's favor.

The supporting cast of Oliver Platt, Jeremy Irons, Lena Olin and Charlie Cox propel the story along, but all eyes will be on Heath Ledger in the title role and Sienna Miller, who is drop-dead gorgeous as Francesca.

The surprising thing about “Casanova” is its utter lack of a steamy love scene. It could have easily been given a PG-13 rating.

Other than that, I found the film to be great fun, and the look given to the production by designer David Gropman and cinematographer Oliver Stapleton gives the film the romantic feel it needs.

'Sarah Silverman: Jesus is Magic'

Many people say Sarah Silverman is the funniest woman working in comedy today. That's not quite right. Silverman may be the funniest person period working in comedy today. It's not just the foul mouth on a beautiful face and body, spewing obscenities and making comedy out of subjects that have been sacrosanct until now.

No, it's more than that. Her calm demeanor and wide-eyed innocence - the “What's wrong with what I just said?” looks - make her act all the funnier and keep the audience a bit more on edge. What will she do next? A joke about her dead granny? An AIDS joke? A starving children bit? A 9/11 riff, for heaven's sake?

She does all of this and more in her first concert (laced with a few vignettes) film, “Sarah Silverman: Jesus is Magic.” From the title down, “Jesus is Magic” contains material that will shock, disturb and even disgust a great number of people. “Does she kiss her mother with that mouth?” is likely to be the question asked by the comedically squeamish.

That's missing the point. Silverman - in the tradition of the great comedian/social commentators like Lenny Bruce, Richard Pryor and Bill Hicks - is merely reflecting back on society and giving the audience pause to think.

One hardly believes she actually wants to dig up her grandma who died at 95 to perform a post mortem and see if she had been raped. Yet in real life, baseball legend Ted Williams' family squabbled over whether they would cryogenically freeze Dad's head for use somewhere in the future.

Silverman was on “Saturday Night Live” for a season, and I've seen her do pieces of her act on Comedy Central and other cable networks. She's snappy and always gets on a roll. And there's the problem with this film: She seems a little more subdued than normal. I suspect it's more novice director Liam Lynch's fault.

It might seem a director of a concert piece would have little to do, but making a film out of a live event implies that the final medium will be a movie.

Jonathan Demme did a great job with “Stop Making Sense” featuring the Talking Heads and with Spalding Gray's “Swimming to Cambodia.” So the director is indeed an important piece of any film.

Other than the lackluster direction, “Jesus is Magic” is a must-see for Silverman fans. But if you're easily offended, you will want to avoid the film.

Jim Wunderle owns Wunderle Sound Services and is a Springfield free-lance writer and musician.

[[In-content Ad]]