You, Me & Tuscany
Yes, the marketing is puerile: “She came for the pasta and got lost in the sauce” is a poster tagline that’s not only unfunny and nonsensical, it’s not even accurate to the story. And that breezy, quippy, give-it-all-away trailer? Super off-putting. The movie is better than that, delivering the shameless romance anyone buying a ticket is hoping for, with charming performances and reasonably effective heart-string-pulling.
“She” is Anna (Halle Bailey, The Little Mermaid), who flies solo to Tuscany not “for the pasta” but to honor her late mother, who bought her the plane ticket. And also because she has just spent a romantic evening in a New York City hotel bar with “spicy” Italian Matteo (Lorenzo de Moor), who has recently abandoned his Tuscan villa in an effort to escape his family’s plans for his life. When Anna arrives without Matteo in the village he once called home, all the hotels are booked, so she breaks into Matteo’s empty mansion to sleep. When Matteo’s mother and grandmother arrive the next day to clean the house, Anna poses as the missing son’s fiancée — and is immediately embraced by the extended family (all of whom conveniently speak English).
To give Anna a sounding board, there’s also a scene-stealing devil-may-care local taxi driver (Marco Calvani) she bonds with. Completing the set-up is Matteo’s cousin Michael (Bridgerton hunk Regé-Jean Page), who not only speaks the king’s English but is actually half English. Yes, we can all see where this is going.
The story unfolds as any lightweight romance must: Predicaments are dodged. Wine is shared; feelings are overshared. Soaking wet shirts come off. Family members serve as comic relief. The two male leads face off (it’s Tuscany, so there’s a wine-barrel-rolling race). The truth eventually comes out. As a bonus — again, it’s Tuscany — Anna is a budding chef and Michael’s family runs both a winery and a restaurant, so there’s also a good dose of food porn as well.
The countless drone shots of always-sunny (or starry) Tuscany are gorgeous. The pop songs on the soundtrack match the mood. The sets are Architectural Digest pristine. Some of the jokes connect; some earn only eye rolls. Bailey is likable, if often weirdly disconnected, but Page sells Michael with a commitment worthy of a weightier movie. That makes the central romance connect emotionally just as it needs to, and susceptible audience members will blink away a tear or two and go home smiling. There are even outtakes over the credits to goose that feel-good word of mouth.
DId I say “shameless” already? I believe I did. And in this case, that applies not only to the movie but to this reviewer’s enjoyment of it. No regrets, you know, because it’s Tuscany.
Grade: B-minus. Rated PG-13. Now playing at the AMC River Hills, Asheville Pizza & Brewing, Carolina Cinemark, and Regal Biltmore Grande.
(Universal Pictures)
