You, Me & Tuscany

⭐⭐⭐1/2

Expectation: 😬😍

Reality: 🤯🤣🥰

(Check out my star rating rubric)

I’ll be honest — I was worried about this one. I felt like the trailer gave away the entire plot, and the premise is so insane, I thought, this cannot possibly be well-executed, but I’m going to support sis and hubby regardless!

When I tell you I was beyond pleasantly surprised!!

You, Me & Tuscany is an absolute delight. I was grinning the entire time, the whole theater laughed throughout, and I genuinely enjoyed every scene.

The film follows Anna (Halle Bailey), a messy twenty-something with little left to lose, who meets Matteo (Lorenzo de Moor), a hot rich Italian, at a bar in New York. He has to jet off the next day, but their encounter inspires her to fly to Tuscany, where she ends up staying in his villa without his knowledge or permission. Matteo’s family shows up (sans Matteo) and thinks Anna is his fiancé. Chaos ensues as she leans into this lie, and develops feelings for Matteo’s brother-cousin, Michael (Regé-Jean Page).

Sound like a hot ass mess? It definitely is, but it works!

Hats off to writer Ryan Engle, because this could’ve gone so wrong, but it went so right. The film fully leans into the ridiculousness in a way that is easy to accept, making what I expected to be cringe turn out absolutely hilarious. The opening seemed to drag a bit, but as the film went on it became clear the opening was necessary to establish a character that would be in this situation, so it works.

Imagine the discomfort of Dear Evan Hansen where things just get progressively worse until we’re past the point of no return, but light-hearted and fun instead of dramatic.

The cast of You, Me & Tuscany is wonderful. There is not a single unnecessary character, and everyone gets at least one great funny moment.

I have to note that Halle Bailey, while stunning, is the weakest actor in the film. It’s hard to put my finger on, exactly, but I felt like I was watching her perform, whereas everyone else fully became their character, almost as if she wasn’t quite comfortable. It didn’t help that her character was a chef and I didn’t believe for a second that she could cook (why did they let her cut the tomato like that?!). That type of thing was distracting and took me out of it, but her character isn’t funny, she’s in a humorous situation and reacting to funny things being said and done around her, so the way she plays it is fine.

I understand marketing the film with Halle Bailey and Regé-Jean Page as the stars, but it’s less of a love story between their characters and more of a finding herself story for Bailey’s character which Page’s character supports.

The chemistry between Bailey and Regé-Jean Page, as well as between Bailey and Lorenzo de Moor, isn’t anything to write home about, but all of them are so hot it doesn’t really matter 🤷🏽‍♀️

Page is a very strong actor and I wish someone would give him more material, though I do appreciate him leaning into the people wanting to see him shirtless, wet, and eating something. Dear Lord, he is a beautiful man.

You, Me & Tuscany is perfect for date night or a night out with friends. It’s so much fun. If you’re looking to relax and have a good time, this is simply delightful.

If you see it — come back and let me know on my contact page. I’d love to hear your thoughts!