Original chick magnet

Casanova, the legendary lover and seducer, has been portrayed many times and many ways in the movies.

Now director Lasse Halstrom (“Chocolat”) has Heath Ledger wearing the puffy shirt in his lavish version of “Casanova,” set in 1753 Venice. It’s an old-fashioned farce, featuring more bodice heaving than bodice ripping.

The opening scene has Casanova fleeing rooftops after he has made himself well acquainted with some nuns. He is captured by Vatican Inquisitors, who would like nothing better than to hang him for his wild ways.

But the Doge, ruler of Venice, gives Casanova a reprieve. He strongly urges that Casanova either leave Venice or marry immediately to avoid more scrutiny by the Church.

So Casanova becomes engaged to a pretty young girl from a rich family, and she is so thrilled with the idea that she splinters a birdcage with her fingers just from gazing at his handsome face.

He then promptly finds true love in Francesca Bruni (Sienna Miller), a modern, spirited woman who writes pamphlets the Inquisitors regard as heresy. She is engaged to a wealthy lard merchant Paprizzio (the very droll Oliver Platt), whose billboards aptly proclaim him “Il Lardo.”

There is much amusement and a plot not much more substantial than the puffy shirt, but it’s very well done. Platt and the lovely Lena Olin, as Francesca’s mother, really make the film come alive whenever they’re on screen. Jeremy Irons, with his elegant sneer and orange mullet, is a wonderful parody of his previous screen villains.

Ledger is charming in a role that is about as far removed from “Brokeback Mountain” as one could get.

* SUSANNE PEREZ lives in Costa Mesa and is an executive assistant for a financial services company.

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