This doesn’t quite have the devotion to zaniness that excellent farce requires – director Lasse Hallstrom keeps squeezing in forced sentiment – but the madcap cast makes the movie a minor delight nonetheless. Heath Ledger ably anchors this comic riff on the legendary lover and writer of 18th-century Venice, while Jeremy Irons and Oliver Platt, in supporting roles, are more than willing to wear their period costumes as clown suits.