A disappointing, low-farce approach to the subject at hand, contradictorily fettered with maudlin high melodrama in the latter-day scenes with O'Toole.
As biography it's a mess, full of deliberate modern-day anachronisms and tacky music-video flashiness, completely lacking in credibility (and a disgrace to the name of Masterpiece Theatre) -- but as low-brow British comedy, in the tradition of the CARRY ON films, it's great fun and mostly successful (thanks to Tennant's charming performance as young Casanova). It would have worked much better as a normal-length film, with the entire of the old Casanova scenes with O'Toole left out of the picture.
Apparently ran 10 minutes longer on the BBC than it did here in the US on PBS (censorship?).
As biography it's a mess, full of deliberate modern-day anachronisms and tacky music-video flashiness, completely lacking in credibility (and a disgrace to the name of Masterpiece Theatre) -- but as low-brow British comedy, in the tradition of the CARRY ON films, it's great fun and mostly successful (thanks to Tennant's charming performance as young Casanova). It would have worked much better as a normal-length film, with the entire of the old Casanova scenes with O'Toole left out of the picture.
Apparently ran 10 minutes longer on the BBC than it did here in the US on PBS (censorship?).