A good romcom may is harder to achieve than GTA 6, but it does happen. It wasn’t Maverick that turned out to be a star-maker for Glen Powell; it was 2023’s Anyone But You. And Theodore Witcher’s Love Jones remains undefeated. There are others, of course, I have a list of at least 20 favorites from all over the world (but how long do you want to be here?).
Yet, despite great romcoms coming to us from K-drama, anime, Bollywood, and South Africa, we’ve been in a slump over here, lovelies. So it’s probably a good thing that producer Will Packer and director Kat Coiro1 took inspiration from some of the G.O.A.Ts of romantic comedy: Roman Holiday, While You Were Sleeping, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, How Stella Got Her Groove Back (and I’ll add Housesitter2) to create something new, something borrowed, and something true to the tropes Romance lovers crave. Yes, I’m here to talk to you about You, Me & Tuscany.
Starring Halle Bailey as Anna, a woman who has become a squatter in other people’s lives rather than living her own, You, Me & Tuscany finds the former house-sitter houseless but fabulous. That’s what attracts Matteo, a charming Italian wannabe Romance novel hero, who reveals all the secrets about his villa sitting empty in Tuscany. They part on good terms, but afterward, Anna gets desperate AND since she has an unused ticket, she’s off to Italy.
The next thing you know, our girl is in a Goldilocks situation when Matteo’s family catches her sleeping in his bed. Namely, his mother, Gabriella (the iconic Isabella Ferrari), and Nonna (Stefania Casini). Then there’s the man who’s been irritating her since she arrived. That man is Matteo’s cousin, none other than the Bridgerton Duke himself, Regé-Jean Page, as Michael. Did I mention Anna gets caught wearing Michael and Matteo’s grandmother’s ring? Her diamond engagement ring? Nonna is not happy about it, but that’s how the shenanigans, misunderstandings, and falling in love with your fake-fiancé’s cousin at the family vineyard begin.
Written by Ryan Engle based on an original idea from him and Kristin Engle, the international cast includes Lorenzo de Moor as Matteo, Marco Calvani as our now beloved taxi driver and fairy godfather who befriends Anna, and Academy Award® nominee Nia Vardalos (star and creator of My Big Fat Greek Wedding) in a cameo as Anna’s house-sitting client, Mrs. Dunn.
Coiro, who is also the director of Marry Me, told us everything we needed to know when she said, “This movie is a love letter to all the romcoms that came before it,” and it shows. The story engine for You Me & Tuscany is mostly While You Were Sleeping, with a setup straight out of Housesitter—while the big messy family hijinks and love of culture is a wink at My Big Fat Greek Wedding—and while some have called it silly, it works. This is Anna’s story. The character development is completely focused on her—the dream she gave up on of cooking in an Italian kitchen, and finding her own life rather than faking it in someone else’s.
The storytelling, whether visual or on the page, gives us all the beats and character cues to make the pivotal moments work. And there are some really good and sweet ones here. Yes, the movie spins on awkward moments, misunderstandings, and a touch of the ridiculous, but a fun romantic comedy is supposed to be escapism. Falling in love is kind of absurd, too (wouldn’t you agree)?
Despite a few stereotypes that could’ve been played better, You, Me & Tuscany focuses on love in every form: love of self, love of family, love of life, and falling in love with a tall British-Italian man who whips off his shirt to protect your edges, and gets completely wet doing it. What’s wrong with that? My favorite moment came when Michael gazes longingly at Anna and confesses he always falls for the wrong girl. My heart. The yearning!
Bailey and Page have solid chemistry. You want them to find their way to each other. The family and the way they welcome Anna as one of their own feels right. And, in the process, we get to explore a little slice of Tuscany and what makes it beautiful. I like this movie. Everyone who saw it with me liked it too (except my niece, Jasmine). Most of us had a great time watching and giggling and sighing— including the guys.
You, Me & Tuscany is a throwback to the big swoony and a little bit messy romantic comedies we used to love and loved us back—it isn’t perfect, but it’s wild and sweet.
Rating: C++
Level of Enthusiasm: 90%
You, Me & Tuscany is in theaters April 10
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kat_Coiro ↩︎
- “Housesitter is a 1992 American romantic comedy film directed by Frank Oz, written by Mark Stein, and starring Steve Martin and Goldie Hawn. The premise involves a woman with con-artist tendencies who worms her way into the life of a reserved architect by claiming to be his wife”
from Wikipedia ↩︎
