Under the Tuscan Sun

Beautiful scenery and so-so acting cannot hold this episodic, poorly edited film together. The jumps from scene to scene, place to place, with little to guide the viewer with a timeline makes this fairly predictable mish-mosh a chore to watch. The book may be great, but skip this adaptation.

This is typical Disney goodie two shoes stuff, big on stereotypes and happy endings starring a cast of nobodies and produced only to make money with no message, no substance and no dramatic value. Disney, grinding out adult movies like sausages under its "Touchstone" brand name really is "the great satan." This follows one of maybe five basic Touchstone plots. Thats what happens when accountants are turned loose making movies. But having said that, it's an entertaining enough 90 minutes with some nice Italian atmosphere. I had to balance my love of Italy with my loathing for Disney. I gave it a 5 which probably was generous.

After her eye-opening performance in Unfaithful, Diane Lane plays the reverse role of a woman who has a cheating husband. She ends up in rural Italy trying to find herself and reinvent her life. With a pinch of hope she embarks on a therapeutic journey and finds eclectic friends, a new language and perhaps love... Can she call this foreign place home? What is she to do to stay strong and redefine happiness for herself? With a nice supporting cast, Diane Lane showcases the right mixture of drama & humour to shine once more in this more light-hearted production. Over the top story elements at time, but story well contained and poignant. Worth at least a good rental, but I enjoyed seeing it on the big screen. Lane is so alive, so surreal. And yes, still beautiful.

How could this movie only get a 6.8 rating? I absolutely love this movie and have probably watched it over 20 times. It's just a great story, with lovable characters and beautiful scenery! Any time I fall upon this movie on tv, I watch it and know that it will put a smile on my face.

Diane Lane is a fascinating actress to watch. Her face is always doing something interesting, and she has a winning, winsome quality to her that makes you automatically root for her. She takes the role she's given here and actually does things with it that other actresses probably couldn't. Otherwise, this film is the visual equivalent of Diet Soda: canned, bland and full of sugar. It should appeal to the Oprah crowd or people who love reality shows about people's homes being remodeled. It's harmless enough, but it has that sort of lazy, vapid quality that makes you wonder why anybody thought it was really worth turning into a movie in the first place. Grade: C