Grab some friends and wine to see You, Me & Tuscany. Romantic comedies have been missed in theaters recently, so this film is a refreshing release as. It’s entirely nonsensical and cliché, but it’s romantic where it counts and is worth seeing in a group looking for a good laugh.
After Anna (Halle Bailey) loses her job and has no place to go, she meets the charming Mateo (Lorenzo de Moor) who convinces her to go to Tuscany like she’s always wanted. Anna finds every hotel booked in preparation for the summer festival, so she seeks out Mateo’s villa and hopes that it’s vacant like he mentioned.
Mateo’s mother (Isabella Ferrari) and Nonna (Stefania Casini) find her in the house and assume she is Mateo’s fiance. Anna perpetuates the ruse in the hopes that Mateo’s family won’t find out the truth until her return flight, but the family’s adoration of her makes it harder and harder to keep up the facade. In true rom com fashion, Anna finds herself growing closer to Mateo’s cousin Michael (Regé-Jean Page) despite her faux engagement to Mateo.
The film’s premise is so ridiculously cheesy that it’s funny. The dialogue and plot are predictable yet somehow immensely charming. This makes You, Me & Tuscany a flick you can put on when you’re hanging out with friends. Each supporting character is so distinctly Italian in order to sell the location without ever using ridiculous stereotypes. Stella Pecollo stands out with her comedic deliveries of Francesca’s lines, and Marco Calvani is a delight to see as the eccentric driver Lorenzo.
The biggest issue with the film is that it focuses too much on Anna getting along with Mateo’s family and doesn’t give the romance a chance to shine. Bailey and Page have some chemistry which makes the romance quite enjoyable when it’s given the spotlight. When they’re onscreen together, they’re not a completely unconvincing couple, but their moments together are pushed to the background by familial hijinks.
The lack of romantic focus in You, Me & Tuscany prevents it from fulfilling its rom com potential, and makes the film come across as more of an ensemble-driven comedy than a romcom. However, it is the ensemble that carries the comedy aspect of the film. This is far from a perfect film. Yet, it is a corny (in a good way) feel-good movie, which theaters have been lacking lately. While most films like this tend to be sent straight to streaming, this theatrical release might open doors for romance to be on the big screen again.
