As a man pretending to be a woman in the classic 1982 comedy "Tootsie," Dustin Hoffman didn't even look remotely like a woman.

But what made that film work is that his fellow cast members made you believe they were convinced he really was a woman in spite of his comically non-womanish appearance.

In "The Triumph of Love," another gender-bending comedy (based on Marivaux's 18th-century French play), Mira Sorvino plays a woman who pretends to be a man. However, she doesn't seem convinced by her ruse any more than the audience will be.

Of course, "Triumph of Love" has other problems — chiefly that it lacks any real "bite" that might make the story tolerable.

Still, it is Sorvino's name that's highest on the bill, so she should shoulder the lion's share of the blame for this dud, in which she stars as Princess Leonide of Sparta.

Sparta's "real" royal family has been imprisoned or killed, except for an infant boy who was smuggled out by philosopher Hermocrates (Ben Kingsley) and his spinster sister Leontine (Irish character actress Fiona Shaw).

That child has grown up to become Agis (Jay Rodan), and he has been trained by the dissident brother-and-sister duo to despise the royals who have usurped his throne — including the princess.

She, however, is determined to change his mind about her — especially after she spies him bathing. So she poses as a scholar, Phocion, and seduces all three of them. (To his credit, at least Hermocrates is smart enough to recognize a woman when he sees one.)

It's familiar material to begin with, but it's handled poorly by Clare Peploe, the wife and disciple of Bernardo Bertolucci, who directs nearly every scene as broadly as possible — even material that is obviously supposed to be more subdued.

In the lead role, Sorvino alternates between hammy and wooden, an acting malady that also seems to have afflicted the normally dependable Kingsley.

In fact, the only cast member who really seems to understand how the piece should be played is Shaw, who blows away both Sorvino and Kingsley onscreen.

(The ultimate sign of the film's incompetence, however, is the numerous inconsistent character accents. At times, they sound like Brits, but occasionally French, and in others may be Italian — a mix that wouldn't even work on an appetizer plate.)

"The Triumph of Love" is rated PG-13 for brief nudity (a male backside, as well as some nude artwork), brief violence (target practice with bows), scattered use of mild religious-based profanity and brief sex (sexual contact). Running time: 107 minutes.

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