Plot Details: This opinion reveals minor details about the movie's plot.

I’ve seen and enjoyed several movies that Diane Lane has made over the years. She received a lot of critical acclaim for her performance in Unfaithful, including an Oscar nomination. She followed that movie with Under the Tuscan Sun, something that was a little lighter. I did think the movie was entertaining even though it wasn’t exactly what I originally expected.

Frances was a successful author and book reviewer with a happy life when she was shocked by the news that her husband was having an affair and wanted a divorce. Because of the way the divorce laws were written, Frances had to sell out her half of the house - that was bought and remodeled with money from her mother - to her soon to be ex to avoid alimony. Frances moved into a small efficiency apartment in a building that was full of people going through divorces. Her best friend Patti became pregnant and she and her girlfriend couldn’t go on the gay tour of Tuscany they had planned on, so they upgraded the ticket to give to Frances. She didn’t want to go at first but then changed her mind. On the tour, she spotted a villa that was for sale and impulsively decided to buy it. She decided to do some work on the house and hired a group of men from Poland. Frances made several new friends, started cooking elaborate Italian meals, worked on her new home and finally started to move on with her life.

When I first saw previews for Under the Tuscan Sun, I was interested in seeing it. I’d already enjoyed more than one of Diane Lane’s movies and it looked like it would be funny and romantic. I didn’t manage to see it in the theater and ended up being disappointed when I finally rented the movie. I had read a few reviews that indicated that the romance part wasn’t that strong, but it was still weaker than I expected. Since then, I’ve seen the movie a few times on a movie channel and I like it a lot more now. I guess it grew on me. I think the main reason I felt so disappointed with it at first was because it had been promoted for being a type of movie that it really wasn’t so I expected something completely different. I think I would have liked it more originally if that hadn’t happened.

All of the previews I had seen for Under the Tuscan Sun really played up the comedy aspect of the movie. Because of that, I expected the movie to be very funny. I did laugh several times, but the movie wasn’t as funny as I had thought it would be. The funniest moments were in the previews, which happens very often anymore. After Frances moved into the villa, she started remodeling the house. Some of those scenes did add some humor. For a short time, it seemed like the movie was going to be a version of The Money Pit set in Italy. Frances did have some culture shock issues after her moves which did add a bit of humor. She was learning Italian and Polish, though most of the dialogue in the actual movie was in English. Patti wasn’t in as much of the movie, but she had the funniest lines. The laughs that were in the movie were smaller, so anyone wanting to watch a hilarious movie will be disappointed.

Like I mentioned before, I felt like Under the Tuscan Sun was promoted as a very romantic movie. Italy is a very romantic setting, so I thought the movie had potential in that area. Frances was still recovering from her divorce when she decided to buy the villa and she wasn’t looking for a new relationship. She did tell one of her new friends that she dreamed of having a family and a wedding in the house someday. She did meet Marcello and quickly became involved in an intimate relationship. Marcello did use a corny line or two that she even recognized, but she still fell for him. They only spent one day together and it ended with them in bed. After that they did make plans to see each other again though things kept coming up that kept them apart. The relationship was built up bigger in the previews, like Marcello was going to be the love of Frances’ life or something. That wasn’t the case. There was a romance developed between the daughter of one of her neighbors and the youngest of the men working on her house. Even that one was underplayed. It was rather sweet even though it wasn’t the most realistic. There were a few sexual discussions and situations in the movie, which is why it was rated PG-13. The word that rhymes with luck was used once. This isn’t a movie that children would be interested in.

Under the Tuscan Sun was really about a woman picking up the pieces and moving on with her life in a totally unexpected direction. Frances hit rock bottom after her divorce and it did take her a while to get over it. Even she wasn’t sure why she bought the villa, but she threw herself into remodeling it. She made some new friends like Martini, Placido, and Katherine and somewhere along the way she started to live again. She had been planning to start writing a new book before the divorce. After that, she couldn’t seem to get going with her writing and kept giving Patti excuses for why she wasn’t writing. Once she started finally moving on in Italy, she started writing again. She didn’t have any family there, so she sort of adopted the men who were working on the villa. She started to fix wonderful Italian meals that she shared with them. Frances found ways to connect with the men. She became truly happy with her untraditional family and life in Italy. It was rather nice to see a woman in a movie that didn’t need a man for happiness.

Frances was living in California when she found out about her husband’s affair. It wasn’t completely clear how long Frances spent living in the apartment before she decided to go on the trip. The majority of the movie took place in Italy which made sense based on the title. The movie successfully captured the beauty of Italy. Before Frances bought the villa, she was shown visiting a few places with the tour. Some very beautiful buildings were shown, though I have no clue what they were. The countryside around the villa she bought was stunning. She did visit a few other cities in Italy that looked just as beautiful.

Under the Tuscan Sun was based on the book of the same name by Frances Mayes. The book was a nonfiction account of how the author bought a villa in Tuscany during a trip after a divorce. I haven’t read the book so I don’t know exactly what has been changed for the movie. From what I have read about the book, it included information about the area of Italy where the villa was along with recipes that Frances cooked while there. I think many of the things that happened in the movie were added in an attempt to make the movie more interesting and entertaining. Several times during the movie there was a voice over of Frances talking about some aspect of her new life. The voice overs worked well for the movie. I have wondered if the voice overs were taken from passages in the book.

Frances was the main character and in all the scenes of the movie. She really went through many things and changed a lot by the end of the movie. She didn’t always make the most logical decisions. She was a caring woman. Diane Lane was really good in the part. She was believable as a woman that was starting a new life. Patti and Frances were best friends. Patti eventually decided to visit the villa when she needed a friend. Sandra Oh was great in the part, delivering the funniest lines in the movie. It was believable that she and Lane were good friends. Oh had a small part in The Princess Diaries. Martini was the man that sold Frances the villa. He seemed to take her under his wing and they became friends. He was happily married, so it wasn’t that he was after her for a sexual relationship. Katherine was an older woman that lived in town. She was rather flamboyant and a bit wild at times. She and Frances did become friends. Katherine did do a few things that were a bit strange. Marcello was the handsome Italian man that Frances was briefly involved with. All of the acting was fine for the other characters, though no one really stood out.

Main Cast

Raoul Bova - Marcello
Lindsay Duncan - Katherine
Diane Lane - Frances
Sandra Oh - Patti
Vincent Riotta - Martini

Audrey Wells - Director

Under the Tuscan Sun has been available on DVD for a few years now. There is a widescreen version and a full screen version DVD. There are a few bonus features on the DVD, like some deleted scenes and a featurette on the making of the movie. When I originally rented the movie, I didn’t bother watching the extras. Now I wish I had at least watched the one on the making of the movie.

Under the Tuscan Sun has grown on me since I first watched it and was initially disappointed with it. I’ve come to really enjoy the movie now that I don’t expect it to be an extremely funny, romantic movie. If people keep that in mind, the movie is entertaining and worth watching. Anyone in the mood for a romantic comedy or just a very funny movie should pick something else.

Diane Lane Movie Reviews
Unfaithful ~

Recommended: Yes