Movie Review: ‘You, Me & Tuscany’

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You, Me & Tuscany was cute and fun with a charming story and cast of characters. It also features wonderful music and beautiful Italian scenery. I laughed, some, and I could tell where I was supposed to be sad or on the edge of my seat (some other people in the audience at the screening I attended were on board with the whole range of emotions).

The movie contains nearly every predictable rom-com cliché that you have seen in numerous other movies and TV series, however, I enjoyed it and would recommend it to at least rom-com fans.

Anna (Halle Bailey) lives a nomadic lifestyle in New York City housesitting for wealthier people after she dropped out of culinary school to support her sick mother, who subsequently died. She has given up on her dream of being a chef and leans on her friend who works in a hotel. After meeting and spending an uneventful night with an Italian man, Matteo (Lorenzo de Moor), she decides to take a prepaid, long dormant planned trip to Italy to try to find herself.

Due to a series of unfortunate, convenient-for-plot circumstances, she decides to crash at Matteo’s unused villa. However, Matteo’s mom and grandmother arrive at the villa for a bit of housekeeping, and Anna pretends to be Matteo’s fiancé to avoid trouble/prison. The misunderstandings and outright lies mount as Anna inadvertently becomes part of Matteo’s family (initially without Matteo, who has not been home in over a year), rediscovers her love of cooking, and develops feelings for Matteo’s cousin, Michael (Regé-Jean Page).

If you have seen a romantic comedy, you know how this movie ends, but the entertainment is in the journey to get to the inevitable destination. Along the way, the movie celebrates adventure, family/social connections, food, and following one’s dreams. It is a fun escapist’s fantasy that will give you a nearly two-hour, likely much needed, break from reality.