Review: You, Me and Tuscany

Image courtesy of Universal Pictures.

There's an entire sub-genre of movies about people, often women, traveling abroad and discovering love and things they didn't know about themselves - two of which get name-checked in "You, Me and Tuscany" during the film's funniest running gag - while traveling abroad, although it usually takes place in Italy.

The difference for "Tuscany" is that, unlike so many of the other films in this sub-genre that lean toward being syrupy or maudlin, it's actually funny and, for the most part, a good time. It's a film filled with characters whose offbeat and often amusing traits are utilized for maximum effect.

The picture opens with Anna (Halle Bailey) getting booted from her latest job as a house sitter after the boss gets home early from a trip and finds out that she's been parading around town in the boss's clothes and taking her cute pup out for a stroll, pretending it belongs to her. Anna later admits that she does a better job pretending to be someone else than living her own life. This likely has to do with her giving up on her dream of becoming a chef after her mother died from an illness.

A chance encounter at a bar with a suave Italian named Matteo (Lorenzo De Moor) that almost results in a one-night stand gives Anna the idea to go to the Tuscan town of which Matteo showed her numerous, gorgeous photos. She goes and when she realizes that she has arrived during the height of a popular festival - and, therefore, she can't find a hotel - she finds Matteo's abandoned villa (he's living abroad, much to the dismay of his family, who wants him to take over the family restaurant), locates an extra key, and breaks in.

After being discovered by the family, she is nearly arrested until they spot her wearing a ring she found in the villa and believe her to be Matteo's fiancee. A run-in with Matteo's at-first gruff, but then later charming, brother, Michael (Rege-Jean Page), leads to a conundrum: She can't exactly strike up a romance with him when he and his family believe that she'll marry Matteo.

Story-wise, the film doesn't go anywhere you don't expect it to, with the exception of Anna taking over the family's restaurant for a special occasion that further endears her to them. But what makes up for a lack of originality and the familiar terrain is the gorgeous scenery, the likable and amusing characters, and the film's good-natured approach to the story.

Typically, these type of romance-abroad-while-finding-yourself movies don't typically lay on the humor too heavily, so it's a breath of fresh air that "You, Me and Tuscany" does. There's a particularly amusing running joke involving tour buses full of women, there's an energetic member of Matteo's family who treats Anna like a confidant regarding her affair with a plumber, and Anna's best friend from home, Claire (Aziza Scott) is the queen of voicemail messages.

Again, the film's beats from start to finish feel overly familiar. But there's a theory that there are basically only seven plots in fiction, whether it's a novel or a movie, so what makes a work successful is the how, rather than the what. "You, Me and Tuscany" approaches its material lightheartedly and with a good sense of humor and, as a result, it makes for a pretty good time.