Under the Tuscan Sun (2003)

I try to write a little on every film I see. My sister recommended this to me and so my wife and I watched it. The hard thing for me is the self-indulgent rich person who is searching for herself, trying to get herself moving forward after her ex- done her in. She has so much money that she can do just about anything she wants. I never found a connection to any of the people in this film, partly because we are so unalike and partly because I felt they didn't deserve much attention. It's hard to pull for character who are rolling through life, feasting on what is there. I do admit that this part of Italy is gorgeous. The cinematographer did a marvelous job of producing images of sun and architecture and all that this part of the world has to offer. After I saw the film, however, I had to think hard to remember what happened.

Under the Tuscan Sun (2003): Dir: Audrey Wells / Cast: Diane Lane, Raoul Bova, Sandra Oh, Lindsay Duncan, Kate Walsh: Romantic drama about change starring Diane Lane whose recent divorce leaves her depressed. Her friends decide to send her on a vacation to Tuscan where she buys a house. It is here where the he story becomes disjointed with pointless subplots. She meets an antique dealer played by Raoul Bova whom she falls in love with but he cheats on her and so the formula goes. Directed by Audrey Wells with beautiful photography but not a shred of story that hasn't been seen countless times. Lane carries through the tired formula as a woman venturing into the unknown and seeking new opportunities but ends up subduing herself in a lousy relationship. Supporting roles are in an out and never very broad. Bova plays a guy who is basically there to bang Lane and present himself as a jerk. Also along for the ride are Sandra Oh and Lindsay Duncan who contribute absolutely nothing to this flimsy outing. They are talented but subdued with formula driven screen writing that amounts to the obvious. Rather than address themes of change and dealing with a fresh start it settles in jerking viewers around with endless stupid romantic clichés. Viewers are recommended a real vacation as oppose to watching this dreary film. Score: 3 ½ / 10

Why bother to visit Italy when you can just bring a bunch of tired clichés to life? They even managed to throw in some clichés about homosexuals just in case anyone needed a little extra patronizing. I have never been able to make it all the way through this disaster of a movie no matter how hard I tried. It's a mess on every level and even the scenery of Tuscany isn't enough to save it.I've always said that bad acting is the result of terrible directing and this film is a clinic of bad directing and terrible acting. How many stupid muggings can we watch of the protagonist expressing sadness, joy, pleasure, fear, surprise, disgust, or whatever? It's the director's responsibility to get what he or she wants and to instruct the actors. The best thing is to cut out all of the stupid and Completely obvious emotions and convey these things through dialogue whenever possible.The director lets her people run amuck in this thing. The English woman who appears like a phantom seems to be a female Liberace, and I don't mean that in a good way. She is simply another dumb stereotype of an eccentric, gentry-class denizen. Her lesbian friend is simply annoying. The three workers are paper-thin and wholely predictable at every turn.Ugh, I hated almost every scene in the film. She over-acts at almost every turn of the camera. Why did the director frame her face in so much of the film? Turn the sound off and watch this and I guarantee you will laugh yourself sick at the bad acting clinic she seems to be giving.The love angle in the movie was corny at best and embarrassing at worst and played like a teenage girl's rendering of how it should be. And finally she meets Joe Whitebread and lives happily ever after. Just completely horrible all along the way.

Under the Tuscan Sun's storyline was a beautiful account of a young woman moving on to new adventures and an unexpected lifestyle in the gorgeous countryside of Italy. Diane Lane did a wonderful job bringing this character to life on the big screen and her portrayal of the endearing main character was a thorough joy. Slapstick comedy during the renovations to the old villa and the endearing characteristics of the Italian people were wonderful additions and the romantic element was enough to make your soul sigh. The scenery in this movie grabbed my heart and wouldn't let go and was the impetus for my husband and I to set off on our own adventures to discover those picturesque Etruscan towns perched high on the hillsides of Tuscany. Thanks to this movie the streets and people of Cortona now feature on the pages of my own novel "Silken Images" under my pen name Jennifer Larmar. Like Frances Mayer, my heart was captivated by this fascinating little town with stories of its residents still resounding in my spirit years later. A thoroughly enjoyable movie, perfect for a rainy day snuggled under the covers with a good wine and hopefully the love of your life beside you.