Toscana

This film is an odd duck. The colours are Italian. The scenery is Italian. The feeling is.. definitely not Italian. In a way, it's like Theo... awkwardly trying to process and integrate into a scenery and culture that is not their own and that they struggle to understand.

Yes, the change is way too rushed. The romance feels forced. But this is a man who has lost a father twice. Perhaps its odd tone reflects the inner turmoil Theo has to deal with before he finds his centre.

As the opening credits eventually rolled, I was expecting a variation on the 'Love is all you need' theme, especially when Zeuten turned out to be the actor who played the son in that charming film, but this story just didn't hang together. The central romantic story of Theo and Sophia was implausible, and devoid of any believable chemistry between the actors. There were too many contrived moments, when one quietly thought 'yeah, right....you're kidding me', and occasional allusions to some past relationship problem with the chef's father, never made tangible or clear, It's a pity, with the beauty of the setting, and a potentially appealing cast. Promising ingredients, poorly assembled. Disappointing.

As a Dane, Anders Matthesen is an insitution in himself; he is one of the most wellknown stand-up comedians we have in our country, and to see him tackle on a more serious role is quite refreshing. Also, I am quite a foodie myself, working as a food prepper at a deli and as a home cook/food blogger, and to me the highlight of the movie was showcasing Tuscan cuisine as well as the beauty of Tuscany. However, the script and plot of the movie was not very spectacular in execution and felt kind of tired after a while, and while some of the characters were quite likeable, in the end they made a lot of choices that didn't really make any sense.

After pandemic and lockdown you just want some featherlight and beautiful images to look at.

Nordic cuisine meets bella whats not to like Italy.

Anders Matthesen and meshmerizing Cristiana Dell'anna (from Gomorrah serie).

Its lovely food porn and a story seen before, but I was entertained, and I know its worth your time too.

So check it out.

I liked three things about this movie: the food; the gorgeous landscapes of Toscana; and Cristiana dell'Anna, who was so memorable in Gomorra, and who still managed to tug at my heart in this venture. Unfortunately the script fell far short of the photography and the cast, and that ruined things for me.

There are no surprises after the first 15 minutes. If you've ever seen a movie about a chef, or any rom-com whatsoever, you know what's coming next.

A better story and more plausible characters would have helped a lot, but as written, neither Theo nor Sophia made any sense to me. I hope Cristiana dell'Anna gets better parts in better movies very soon!