Review of Under the Tuscan Sun (2003) by Myrian S — 09 Jan 2011

Frances Mayes (Diane Lane) is a San Francisco writer whose seemingly perfect life has just taken an unexpected detour. She finds out at a party that she's hosting, from a writer to whom she had given a bad review of his book, that her husband has been cheating on her.

The divorce leaves her depressed and with seemingly terminal writer's block; her best friend Patti (Sandra Oh), a lesbian who is expecting a child, is beginning to think Frances might never recover.

Patti convinces her to take an Italian vacation, to Tuscany, but it's on a gay tour (Patti and her partner Grace (Kate Walsh) had booked it for themselves, but changed plans after Patti became pregnant).

At first Frances refuses, but then after a depressing day in her new, gloomy apartment, she decides that it is a good idea to get away for a little while after all. In Tuscany, while stopping in a small town she sees a notice about a villa for sale, in Cortona.

Then, after the passengers are back on the tour bus, the bus has to stop to let a herd of sheep pass, and Frances realizes that they've stopped in front of the very villa that she had seen for sale, something she believes is a sign.

She asks the driver to stop and she gets off the bus. Through a series of serendipitous events she becomes the owner of a lovely yet dilapidated villa in beautiful Tuscany. From this point her life begins anew with a variety of interesting characters and unusual but gentle souls.

She hires a crew of Polish immigrants to renovate the house. Over time, Frances also befriends her Italian neighbors and develops relationships with her Polish workers, the realtor who sold her the villa, and Catherine, an eccentric, aging, British actress.

Later, she is visited by the now very pregnant Patti, whose partner Grace has left her. Frances does meet a romantic interest, Marcello, but it does not last, and she is about to give up on happiness when two young lovers come to her for help.

Eventually, she finds the fulfillment she was searching for in a wedding at the villa, where she also meets an American writer who is traveling in Tuscany.