Under the Tuscan Sun

It's a story about how people who want things badly rush themselves into experiences that are worse than their previous ones. It's a good movie with several deep messages. The movie also has a certain atmosphere that makes you feel as if you are in Tuscan on a trip yourself. I have to disagree with the view that says you need to be in love to enjoy the movie. All what you need is some depth and you will definitely relate to the protagonist. She happens to be healing from a failing marriage but you can relate to her story if you are dealing with any kind of problems in your life.

There is one specific part of the movie which I truly like is the one where she defends the love story of a young couple though she was hurt. This shows that even though she failed she didn't cease to believe in love. She succeeded in going out of the egocentricity of a person who usually hates good for people if his life is not working successfully.

Admittedly, I was surprised. This isn't the type of movie that normally appeals to me, and yet I was really quite taken with it on a number of counts. It could be described as a very gentle movie (even mildly spiritual in some ways) full of sage advice about life and how to handle the disappointments that naturally appear, and - being somewhat stereotypically Italian in its presentation - it has a lot about love and romance and flirtatiousness in it. It even packs a bit of humour. Not a typical guy's movie, but still very pleasant viewing. What I particularly liked was the premise that essentially started the whole thing off. Frances (in a great performance by Diane Lane) discovers that her husband is having an affair, and they end up divorced - and, she being the primary bread winner - he gets the house and alimony. The lesson? When your life falls apart, move on to something completely different and start picking up the pieces. Frances buys a villa in Tuscany and restarts her life, with us watching. Her problems aren't solved. She seems to think that everything revolves around finding a man and romance, but - as her friend Martini points out near the end of the movie - she ends up with everything she wanted - just not in the way she expected to get it.

At times, it's a bit slow-paced, and it's not "exciting" in the way we think of the word, but it's got a quality that draws you into it. As far as the story is concerned, my only quibble might be the introduction of the character of "Ed" right at the end of the movie. Everything to that point had led to the understanding that Frances didn't need romance to be fulfilled; she had found her fulfillment with the people she had assembled around her, who had become a surrogate family. I suppose it's nice that she found someone to love, but the movie on the whole would have been more satisfying if it had ended with the gathering at the dinner table with all her friends - without Ed! That was an unsatisfying intrusion into an otherwise satisfying story. 7/10

In "Under the Tuscan Sun", a recently divorced American writer/critic (Lane) ventures to Italy where she sets about putting the pieces of her shattered life back together in the rustic, bucolic, scenic countryside of Tuscany. Lane registers a fine performance in this lighthearted drama spritzed with humor and romance which is as lovely as it is clumsy. Obvious in its attempts to tug at the heart-strings of romantics with all the expected Italian stereotypes and cliches, this flick received mixed reviews and will resonate most with more mature sentimentalists. Those who enjoy this film may want to check out V. Redgrave in "A Month by the Lake" (1995). (B)

I love this movie. I don't care if it was a "chic flick" or what. Whatever, it was so breathtakingly beautiful that anyone should be entranced by it's sheer visual assault on the senses. When you add great performances by a fine cast, and an interesting story, you can't loose. Who wouldn't love to escape for an hour or so to the Italian Sun? Even the ending was realistic.

This is the second movie I've seen lately that took place in a beautiful countryside Italian Villa. The other, "My House in Umbria" was equally eye catching and enjoyable.

But I think I've reached the point of satiation. If I have to see one more movie where the lead actress has nothing to do but make friends, remodel her gorgeous Tuscan Villa, eat gourmet food on her sunny patio in the garden, have no money worries, and not work, I think I might snap. I pray daily that Diane Lane and Maggie Smith will one day be slinging hash in a Barstow truckstop and experience the real world.

OK, first of all a heads up... I'm a British man of 56, having just watched this on the TV on a lazy Sunday afternoon, when I could of been catching up with Glastonbury or the football (Euro 2016). Not, I guess, the target audience.

Well, as I sat there on the sofa with my cuppa, enjoying the scenery, and this striking lady who I hadn't seen before, (trust me, I know Diane now, and have a list of her films to watch), I just became entranced.

I know I'm being manipulated, the mass of stereotypes, the fact (unlike most of us) she can just cash buy a villa on a whim, BUT, I gave in and went for the ride, and it couldn't of been better. I didn't want it to end, the feel good, the decent people, the Tuscan sun! Add in fellow Brit Lindsay Duncan's great performance, the ensemble cast, and you have a joy to watch which surely will make anyone feel better.