CHARM OFFENSIVE.

Byline: By Gavin Allen South Wales Echo 

The release schedules of major films can do actors huge favours when they suddenly get a triple whammy of great films arriving in two months, particularly just before the Oscars.

But it can also do them harm and Heath Ledger may regret making this limp-wristed lump of nothing come March 5.

The Oscars panel like to reward serious AC-TORS and not pretty boy chancers getting lucky.

So it is that Casanova arrives just a few weeks after Ledger's Oscar-hopeful performance in Brokeback Mountain and a month after Terry Gilliam's The Brothers Grimm, undoing some of the Oscar potential and indie-cred he is seeking to acquire.

Casanova is another take on the tale of the world's greatest lover and here we find our gadabout hero put in an unwanted position by the authorities; find a woman and settle down or be exiled from Venice to leave the city's women in peace.

'Going into the movie I did a lot of research on the historical figure of Casanova and read as much of his journal as I could - two out of the 12 volumes,' said Ledger.

'But when I got the script I realised that information was useless, because it's not historically correct.

'It's a romp, a comedy and I feel like I should have sent him up more.

'I feel like I missed that boat, even.'

That's an honest confession.

If anything, Casanova has all the hallmarks of a Carry On film, cheap farce, flimsy plots, wafer thin characters and billowing blouses; all it lacks is a cast to treat it with the derision it deserves, although Ledger clearly didn't give it everything.

'Brokeback Mountain and Casanova really complemented each other because Brokeback was really intense and excruciating, and Casanova was all drinking wine and eating pasta.

'It was like a paid holiday.'

And it feels like it.

A major problem with the film is that it becomes an ensemble comedy of characters no-one cares about because lets face it, the film is called Casanova, not Casanova and Friends.

Ledger is certainly a good actor but his output to date is too lightweight and his Casanova simply isn't a big enough character to carry the film; he is sidelined here because of that.

It's full of fun and as easy on the eye as its two leads (Ledger and Sienna Miller) but ultimately it's a silly misjudged mess.

This is certainly below director Lasse Hallstrom. Ledger's post Oscar choices will tell whether it's below him - or perfectly on his level.