Review of Under the Tuscan Sun (2003) by Vicky D — 06 May 2013

Cliched? Do the reviewers who used that word even know what it means? What cliches are they referring to anyway?

I watched this film for a bit then stopped watching it (probably due to being tired).

Tonight (May 7th), I watched it from start to finish even as I cooked my meal of Jalapeno Cheese sausages with mixed vegetables (appropriate given the cooking that is put on display in the film).

This is a marvelous and heart warming film, with references to an Italian filmmaker at certain points through the film, and I am glad that I took the time to enjoy it (reacting honestly to whatever I saw and heard).

Diane is Frances, a woman who is dealt a blow when a writer that she reviewed and panned takes a certain amount of pleasure in suggesting that her husband may be unfaithful (how he can even know this suggests either a plot on the writer's part or a certain strange set of circumstances). It appears that he was indeed unfaithful and, due to her own misfortune as a writer and lack of income, she is forced to face the future of losing her home to her cheating husband and his lover who apparently is pregnant.

It's poignant when Frances collapses on the floor of her new apartment, seeming to give up on life as it hits her with setback after setback. When two of her friends propose sending her on a tour of Tuscany, a newly divorced woman among many gay couples, she laughs it off and refuses to accept initially until she comes to the realization of a crossroads she has indeed come to. (I can so relate to that dilemma, having come to crossroads many times in my life).

She agrees to go to Europe and travels on the tour where, in a light-hearted reflection of real life, she is outed by the tour spokesperson as being a "straight" among gays. They welcome her but really she is alone in their togetherness and it is only when she sees a house listed for sale then "magically" the tour is delayed in front of that very house that she makes an even more dramatic choice for her life.

She decides to buy the house and her life changes in fits and starts, and ultimately wishes she makes during a time of inspired hope do come true but not in the way that she thinks they might or wishes they might. She learns a brutal lesson about taking chances and being betrayed by someone else but ultimately she makes it through by being there for others and in helping others become happy or find their happiness she then finds her own happiness. 10/10 and a keeper in my opinion....