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Jeremy Leven's "Don Juan de Marco" is a dishearteningly monochromatic interpretation of the world's most notorious lover. Johnny Depp, with his penchant for eccentric roles, seems to be an inspired choice to play the mysterious, sensuous young man who appears in the late twentieth century to recount intimate memories of his prolific love life. But as the picture-perfect sunsets flash across the screen, the lovely ladies disrobe, the orchestra hums and the saccharine sentiments fly, it becomes apparent that his Don Juan is just another primetime soap opera rogue...
...Juans must suffer the pangs of a thwarted love. As the film opens, Depp is perched atop a billboard, attempting to join his missing love in the afterlife. Enter Marlon Brando as Jack Mickler, a psychiatrist sleepwalking his way to retirement...
Brando plays Jack as a passive voyeur, listening intently to Depp's recounting of the amorous exploits as if he is bestowing some machismo title to the younger actor. He even gives Depp his trademark hug and kiss on both cheeks, as if to bring him into the family...
Dunaway is considerably more relaxed than in recent roles (noteably as Depp's lover in the well-intentioned "Arizona Dream" in 1994). Brando, too, seems content to let the film pass him by, with only a snapshot of him circa "On the Waterfront" to suggest his former power...
Leven treats his potentially satirical material with a rare light hand when someone refers to the young lover as Casanova. With his fiery temper, Don Juan becomes incensed. Unfortunately, both Leven and Depp take their mission too seriously to create more of these moments...