Product: Under the Tuscan Sun (2003)
Rating: 3.0
Revisiting Tuscany, under the sun
Having read Frances Mayes' travelogue UNDER THE TUSCAN SUN: AT HOME IN ITALY and enjoyed the flow of her reconstructed a shabby old treasure of a house there and her inimitable conversation about how to enjoy the special qualities of Tuscany, seeing this book adapted into a film seemed a reasonable step. After seeing the film and finding it so completely unrelated to Mayes' book - using it more life a stage on which to create a lot of 'audience pleasing subplots' - this viewer passed on writing a review. Seeing the film again, years later, without any expectations to meet, was a pleasant surprise. Get past the Audrey Wells superimposed episodes of Sandra Oh and her baby, of the love affair gone awry, and the Fellini reenactment etc and the film has some charm. Diane Lane tries her best to make us consider this little story a transformation event and in many cases ti works. But not always in the manner in which it was intended.What does come shining through are some bit parts by actors who deserve more attention and more exposure. For instance, the 'workmen' who help Lane's adapted character transform her villa into a 'home' for all manner of folk. One of the actors who plays the young Pawel, Pawel Szajda, has all the necessary qualities to bloom into a fine career - and hopefully this film will be a springboard for him. Also Lane's 'at the end of the film only' lover Ed is played by another solid newcomer - David Sutcliff. Otherwise the possibility of falling in love with beautiful Tuscany is a bit blurred with all the generated little stories that add little to the film. But then again, it IS durable - which says a lot for the many love affairs with Italy that both the book and the film started! Grady Harp, July 10