You, Me & Tuscany Review

Directed By: Kat Coiro
Written By: Ryan Engle, based on an original idea by Ryan Engle and Kristin Engle
Runtime: 104 minutes
MPA Rating: Rated PG-13 for some strong language and sexual material

Halle Bailey – Anna
Regé-Jean Page – Michael
Lorenzo de Moor – Matteo
Marco Calvani – Lorenzo
Aziza Scott – Claire
Isabella Ferrari – Gabriella
Stefania Casini – Nonna Alessia
Paolo Sassanelli – Vincenzo
Stella Pecollo – Francesca
Emanuele Pacca – Giuseppe
Nia Vardalos – Mrs. Dunn

Marry Me director Kat Coiro goes the traditional rom-com route with the new film, Marry Me. Young and single Anna (Halle Bailey) gets swept up in a lie where she convinces an Italian family that she’s their absent son’s fiancée; but how long can she maintain the lie without breaking their pure hearts?

You, Me & Tuscany adheres to the traditional romantic comedy playbook, utilizing many predictable narrative beats and conventions. However, it works effectively.

Bailey excels as the romantic lead. Anna is a once-aspiring chef who dropped out of culinary school after her single mother got sick and passed away. Losing her confidence to cook in the kitchen, Anna pivots to a career as a “professional house-sitter.”

After Anna gets fired from her job, she has a chance meeting with a handsome and charming Italian real estate agent, Matteo (de Moor). Sparks fly between the two, but Matteo falls asleep on Anna before they can take things further. With barely any funds left, Anna’s meeting with Matteo encourages her to wing it and take a trip to Tuscany, Italy. Unfortunately, there’s nowhere she can stay in the idyllic Italian countryside, so she opts to break into Matteo’s unoccupied villa, which he showed her pictures of the night they met.

Of course, things go sideways when Matteo’s mother Gabriella (Ferrari) and grandmother (Casini) arrive to clean the villa and find Anna. The relatives soon suspect that Anna is Matteo’s fiancée. Between a rock and a hard place, Anna gets swept up in the lie. However, in the process, she genuinely falls in love with the lush small town and Matteo’s incredibly gracious, giving family.

Things take another turn as Anna begins growing closer to Matteo’s cousin and adopted brother, Michael (Page), as the sparks genuinely ignite between them. Naturally, Matteo eventually returns home, realizing that Anna convinced his whole family they’re getting married. Various comedic shenanigans ensue in the process.

There’s nothing groundbreaking about You, Me & Tuscany, yet it’s not trying to be. The film has a simple premise, like many romcoms, which hinges on the protagonist selling a somewhat contrived lie to an unsuspecting group of individuals with hearts of gold. It helps that writer Ryan Engle stages the lie organically, and the plot nicely escalates when Matteo returns to Tuscany and discovers what Anna has been doing.

The film boasts a charming cast. Bailey and Page make for strong romantic leads, and they exhibit genuinely strong chemistry with each other onscreen. Matteo’s family is also generally likable, sweet, and charming.

Coiro splendidly showcases the Italian villas and countryside, with the movie physically shot on the Amalfi coast. The sets and landscapes look incredibly beautiful and romantic, and it’s hard not to get swept up by their majesty, just as Anna is enamored with the locale.

The plot does grow overly saccharine at times, following the romcom 101 playbook to a T, especially with the complication of the faux love triangle between Anna, Michael, and Matteo. However, You, Me & Tuscany succeeds, not by trying to reinvent the romcom wheel, but simply doing it fairly well.

You, Me & Tuscany demonstrates that decent romcoms have been greatly missed at movie theaters, and they were a Hollywood tradition that never should have gone out of style in the first place.

Where To Watch You, Me & Tuscany

You, Me & Tuscany hits theaters on Friday, April 10. Ticket and showtime information are available at the movie’s website.

7.0

The final score: review Good

The 411

You, Me & Tuscany presents a fairly standard, traditional romantic comedy, but in doing so, it works surprisingly well, thanks to a charming cast and beautifully romantic and majestic locales. Halley Bailey and Regé-Jean Page make for a strong lead couple, and the rest of the cast provides surprising charm, warmth, and laughs. You, Me & Tuscany shows that decent romcoms have been greatly missed at movie theaters, and they were a Hollywood tradition that should not have gone out of style in the first place.