an unhappy italian housewife , a lonely waiter , a goofy masseuse , lots of love , and gorgeous scenery all come together in bread and tulips , which proves charming despite its covering of predictable , well-worn material . 
the story concerns the aforementioned housewife , rosalba barletta ( licia maglietta ) who accidentally becomes separated from her immediate family while on vacation . 
instead of waiting for a ride home , rosalba opts not to go home to her italian town , but to instead hitchhike to venice . 
upon arriving , she tells her self-centered husband , mimmo ( an excellent antonio catania ) that she'll be home in a few days . 
of course , that doesn't happen , as rosalba quickly gains a level of independence that has been unattainable in her past life of scrubbing floors and buying groceries . 
in what seems like days , she moves in with lonely , suicidal waiter fernando ( bruno ganz ) , gets a job as a florist , learns the accordion , and befriends her neighbor -- a wacky holistic masseuse named grazia ( marina massironi ) . 
rosalba , who is first seen wearing a gaudy stretch pants outfit , starts wearing sexy dresses and getting closer to fernando . 
i can think of at least five other ( american ) movies ( including fried green tomatoes and an unmarried woman ) that are more than similar to bread and tulips . 
but maglietta and ganz , who act with restraint and care , help bread and tulips from becoming a tired retread . 
ganz plays the suicidal waiter role with a solemn , sometimes playful dignity that is a joy to watch , while maglietta never overreacts to her growing comfort with the outside world . 
throughout the movie , maglietta has an easygoing , confident demeanor , which makes it very easy to root for her and her growing attraction for ganz's character . 
the gorgeous scenery of moonlit town squares and sparkling rivers provides a perfect love story backdrop -- you just might want to ask the attractive stranger in the seat behind you for coffee after the lights come up . 
director and co-writer silvio soldini must get credit for sprinkling the movie with effective goofy humor . 
the cheap mimmo , desperate to find his wife ( after all , he needs his shirts ironed and his mistress won't do it ) , hires a job applicant ( giuseppe battiston ) at his bathroom supply firm to do the job . 
the reason ? 
mimmo discovers that the prospective plumber loves detective stories . 
the novice detective's various misfortunes , including him saying goodbye to his weepy mother , are very funny . 
unfortunately , there are flaws that somewhat spoil bread and tulips' cheery tone . 
rosalba is bothered by several surreal dreams during her time in venice , which bring the movie to a halt . 
it's like putting a gunfight in a nora ephron movie . 
several details in fernando's life also never get proper closure , including his suicidal tendencies . 
early in the movie , he nearly hangs himself before rosalba knocks on his apartment door . 
after that , fernando's step towards death is never made reference to , probably because soldini wanted to include a lukewarm , underdeveloped subplot about fernando's stormy past . 
it seems more like a desperate attempt to pump up the drama in a plot that doesn't need any . 
but there aren't a lot of overwhelming negatives in bread and tulips . 
the movie is fun and romantic , with beautiful scenery and characters whose lives we'd like to live if we had the nerve . . . 
or if our passports weren't missing .