You, Me & Tuscany

Yes, this is a standard rom-com, in all the best of ways — both playing with the genre’s well-trodden tropes, and letting us enjoy how much fun they can be.

Through it all, Bailey’s star power shines. She holds the camera’s attention, pops off the screen and gives Anna an innocent energy that makes her ruses seem mischievous and harmless.

Unlike its protagonist, there’s a refreshing lack of guile or pretense here about what this modest but breezy movie is and wants to be.

It’s your typical mistaken-identity love story, in which one pretty person must decide between two pretty people, with the choice heavily influenced by who looks best when wet.

Nobody ever feels like a real person in this movie, but we’re pulling for them anyway. The same could be said for the film: It’s not particularly good, but I selfishly want it to be a hit anyway, just so we can bask in the genre for a little longer. The world was a better place when rom-coms roamed the land.

The movie isn’t above using its star like a pin-up model. It isn’t above much, in fact, and it’s certainly below the level of the breezy rom-coms that Hollywood used to churn out with ease.

As ever, all these thumping stereotypes would matter less if there was some chemistry between the two leads. Page has sufficient charisma to skirt through the absurdity unscathed. In contrast, Bailey seems dazzled and bemused – neither crafty enough nor ingenuous enough to make sense of the central deceit.

Pure escapism and fun! Beautiful stars and a sweet endearing supporting cast. The scenery was gorgeous and this was the uplift we need in these crazy times.

An exceptional location, family strong, great chemistry and simply a clean fun movie experience.

It has exactly that kind of movie vibe where you go in already knowing absolutely everything that’s going to happen over the next 90 minutes. And the worst part: the movie knows it, ****’s got the clichés, the convenient encounters, the silly conflicts, and that classic romantic comedy structure that practically comes pre-packaged. But then there’s Tuscany, an absurdly charismatic cast, and an atmosphere so cozy that you just go along with **** chemistry between Halle Bailey and Regé-Jean Page carries a lot of the movie, but honestly? The real star here is Italy itself. At various points, it feels less like a romantic comedy and more like an official tourism **** the end, maybe that’s exactly what makes it work. It doesn’t try to reinvent anything. It just wants to be a light, beautiful, and cozy movie to let your brain switch off for a while. And it succeeds.Translated with **** (free version)

They say that “imitation is the highest form of flattery,” but, when that sincere admiration begins teetering on the brink of becoming derivative, much of the magic and charm is lost. And that, for what it’s worth, is the downfall of this much-anticipated romantic comedy from director Kat Coiro, a filmmaker best known for her short subjects, music videos and TV work. Anna (Halle Bailey) is a twenty-something wannabe chef who’s been treading water as a New York City house sitter ever since the untimely death of her culinary inspiration, her mother. Grief aside, she nevertheless seriously needs to get her life back on track, specifically by living the life that she truly wants for herself. However, as someone who’s loath to take responsibility for herself, she wallows in an ever-deepening pool of financial trouble, bad decisions and lack of direction. But a chance meeting in a hotel bar with a handsome, wealthy, globe-trotting Italian real estate mogul, Matteo (Lorenzo de Moor), launches her into an impromptu adventure with romantic potential, prompting her to spontaneously visit his elegant though unoccupied Tuscan villa (albeit uninvited, too – another of those potential bad decisions). Anna sees the trip as a catalyst for changing her life, but she soon gets more than what she bargained for when she’s forced to come up with a cover story for why she has suddenly taken over Matteo’s home, a question for his skeptical family members who care for the villa in his absence. Her explanation? She’s Matteo’s fiancée, an announcement that gets her welcomed with open arms (all unbeknownst to her alleged beau). In the meantime, however, Anna meets and begins falling for Matteo’s adopted brother, Micheal (Regé-Jean Page), a hunky, well-to-do Tuscan vineyard owner, an attraction that proves mutual. But how does she explain herself now as the sparks begin to fly between her and her fiancé’s sibling? Such is the premise for what follows, all set against the lush Tuscan landscape, a lively small town summer festival and life with the brothers’ comically colorful relatives (arguably the film’s strongest attribute). The fundamental problem here, though, is that the narrative isn’t especially original, drawing from storylines previously explored in other Italian romcoms like “Moonstruck” (1987) and “Under the Tuscan Sun” (2003), both of which told their tales much more effectively, making this offering appear pale by comparison. What’s more, “You, Me & Tuscany” isn’t terribly funny, either, a key component that shouldn’t be lacking in a romantic comedy. In fact, rarely does hilarity ensue. Ultimately, this release comes across more like something one would find on Lifetime, We TV or The Hallmark Channel – passable but essentially lightweight fare that’s not particularly fresh, innovative or overly engaging. In some ways, I suppose I shouldn’t have expected more than this, but it also seems like the creators of this project could have made more of an effort to come up with something a little less predictable, formulaic, sappy, and, at times, fundamentally implausible. Some have called this an ideal date night movie, but, to me, its inability to draw viewers into the story more successfully strikes me as being more like something to watch when one is at home on a Friday night stretched out on the couch in a pair of sweats with a box of bonbons with nothing better to do, the perfect background noise movie, a romcom about which there’s not a whole lot to love.

It's just... fine... it exists I guess. It is indeed a movie that happens to exist.