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Boys will be girls will be boys will be girls in this gender-bending story of love in the Age of Reason. Based on Pierre de Marivaux's 18th-century stage comedy about a princess (Mira Sorvino) who disguises herself as a man in an attempt to win the boy of her dreams (Jay Rodan) and right a past wrong, it's a breezy but empty romp adapted by Claire Peploe, whose more famous husband - Bernardo Bertolucci - acts as screenwriter and producer.

With such cinematic pedigree, it's difficult to see how The Triumph Of Love could fail to triumph. Yet, its blithely good-natured story about the deceptions of the heart proves rather too airy for its own good. Still, as the princess who falls in love with a man her family has wronged, Sorvino (Mighty Aphrodite) performs her cross-dressing role to perfection, camping it up with a perpetual smirk that's seductively libertine.

"WITTY DIALOGUE AND CHARMING CONTRIVANCES"

Sorvino's character is a good girl on a wicked mission: she plays a Machiavellian role as both male seducer and female temptress but ultimately making sure that things turn out for the best. Toying with the hearts of the household, she sets a series of tricks to catch the old ones and shamelessly woos stern philosopher Hermocrates (Ben Kingsley) - who knows she's a woman - and his spinster sister Leontine (Fiona Shaw) - who thinks she's a man - in her bid to win the one she really loves. As conspiracies of the heart go, it's satisfyingly slippery.

Shot on location in a beautiful estate in sunny Tuscany, The Triumph Of Love's witty dialogue and charming contrivances may impress, but it never amounts to much more than a glorified home movie in which everyone struggles to suppress a grin while rummaging through the costume box. By the time all's well that ends well, we've already realised that Marivaux is no Shakespeare and this is no Shakespeare In Love.