Rating: 
Summary: Disappointed
Review: After reading Frances Mayes two wonderful books, UNDER THE TUSCAN SUN and BELLA TUSCANY, I was very disappointed and felt let down by the film. I found the real Ms. Mayes and her significant other/husband Ed and their real life in Italy much more appealing than the un-real Ms. Mayes (Dianne Lane) and her very un-real life in Italy. The film is eye-candy due to settings and cinematography but if one expects to get the "real story" or if the story as presented in Ms. Mayes books is important, forget it.
Rating: 
Summary: Absolutely Horrible
Review: I was SO disappointed when I saw this film. I have friends in Tuscany who saw the crew shooting this during production, so I was really looking forward to going and seeing it, since I've never had the pleasure of going to Italy myself. I will give this movie some credit. If I had to rate this movie based on scenery and physical environment I would give it 5 stars all the way! The scenery was breathtaking and gorgeous! However....The rest was just awful! The whole storyline is predictable and it's another example of Hollywood using the same formula at scoring for an audience. This movie had the potential to be good, I just wish Hollywood didn't interfere with the process. Because it is a Hollywood film, it has no depth and every problem had (surprise surprise!) a miracle-fairytale-love-can-conquer-all-happily-ever-after-solution. In typical fashion, the movie is also full of ignorant stereotypes. You have your leading beautiful, blond actress (Diane Lane - who is not a bad actress that's why I feel sorry for her that she had to be in this film), a token Asian friend (because of course you need a minority to be correct in Hollywood's ridiculously politically correct world), and of course Italian people that they stereotyped to death. If you talk to any real Italian or European person they will tell you that this is a disgrace to what Europeans pride themselves on being. Hollywood thinks they know about different cultures and the rest of the world, but after seeing this film, you wonder if any of the people who made this film ever actually had any friends that weren't American.
Rating:
Summary: Simply awful
Review: I can't believe anyone would write a positive view of this movie. I hope that Frances Mayes took the money and ran, because in this chick flick to end all chick flicks she's portrayed as almost a total bimbo, whereas she was actually running a department at a university.The problem is that the producer took very small parts of books on renovating a house in Tuscany, and added a totally unrelated focus on love. People love at every corner, and our heroine, who in both books spent almost all her time with her boyfriend, is bouncing uncontrollably around all the foreigners, all of whom might have an affair with her even though they're married. The chick-flickyedness of the movie goes over the top, with the producer not willing to give up the slightest cliché. You want kittens? We have kittens! You want babies? We have babies! You want handsome men who will have an affair with you, even though they've just met you? Got them too! Too bad none of the books had this. That also goes for the Italian public servant, who is a ravishing blonde who used to be a Fellini starlet, and the boy-toy polish worker who is sleeping with his girlfriend in Mayes' bed. Just when you think it can't get any worse, the asian friend of Mayes (another producer invention) shows up after you were glad she'd been left in the USA, and proceeds to give an even more leaden performance than at the beginning of the movie. However, this gives Diane Lane the chance to make meaningful but meaningless facial expressions (check out Lane's look when Sandra Ho is dancing, holding her baby). I think that if you find this movie fascinating reading either of the books will be an intellectual challenge.
Rating:
Summary: Once again just the book title was borrowed.
Review: This is a movie that had great potential. If they stuck half way with the story that the film was supposed to be based on (Trials and tribulations of restoring a villa and vineyard) it would have been great. The film "The Money Pit" came a lot closer to the story. Instead we get a caned formula boy meats girl, and girl meats girl, and so forth. The villa just happened to be in the way of the story. And talk about slow and dragged out. There are a few travel poster shots of Italy That are nice but not any ware worth the expense in time to wait for a story that never happens.
Rating: 
Summary: A Perfect Movie
Review: After reading some of the previous reviews, I found myself wondering if we'd seen the same movie. I loved it! Everything about it was wonderful. I thought the acting was fantastic, everyone was very well cast. There were quite funny parts during which I laughed out loud and a couple of times when I had to pause the movie to weep. I suppose I am a sentimental sap, but I wouldn't wish to be any other way. I guess it all depends on who you are, your personal beliefs and experiences, and where you are in your own life whether or not you'll truly feel this movie. I felt it to the depths of my soul. Although I am not, nor have ever been in the exact same situation as Frances, it is very easy to relate to her. There were moments when I felt the movie was made just for me. I thought one of the most beautiful parts of the movie is the relationship between Frances and Mr. Martini...the dialogue, the unspoken thoughts, the subtle physical gestures of the actors...wonderful. In summary, it has become one of my favourite movies. It reminds us that though we may feel trapped and that the world has caved in on us and we can't possibly bear the pain, life is still there to be lived, and yes, amazing things will happen even when we least expect them. God, I love this movie!!!
Rating:
Summary: Not a stand-out movie
Review: I tried to like this because this is normally the type of movie that I would choose to view and I am a Diane Lane fan, but this movie did not impress me. Diane Lane plays a fairly submissive role. She doesn't sparkle or shine, and neither does the cinematographer's rendition of the Tuscan countryside. There are some pretty scenes, but they don't carry over to set the mood for the film as they should. Certainly not enough to redeem this movie above standard fare. There are several likeable characters in the movie. I especially enjoyed the older,handsome,but unfortunately married real estate agent. I felt for Ms. Lane's character - too bad he was taken! I haven't read the book, but I read a review that said that actually the main character and her husband renovated the house in Tuscany (not the new divorcee on her own looking for love and fulfillment), so maybe that's why this movie falls short -too much artistic license. In any case, you might enjoy this light movie, or you might be disappointed, but if you like Diane Lane's natural beauty and intensity, you should see "A Walk On the Moon" (one of my favorite movies)and "Unfaithful". Check out "My House in Umbria" with Maggie Smith if you like movies that take place in Italy.
Rating:
Summary: Very Uplifting and Fun
Review: I really enjoyed Under the Tuscan Sun. Diane Lane is wonderful in this movie. Sandra Oh is great as her friend dealing with motherhood. Watching the scenes of Italian countryside is wonderful. Watching Diane Lanes character as she gets over her divorce, and moves to a foreign country by herself is inspiring.
Rating:
Summary: Great movie! Heaven on Earth!
Review: This film is heaven on earth. There is not a more visually beautiful film that I have seen this year (and that includes "The Return Of The King"). It was so beautiful to look at and watch. DIANE LANE was mesmerizing in the star role as Frances Mayes, and she continues to show what a great Oscar caliber actress she is. She was good in "Unfaithful" and she is as good in "Tuscan Sun". The supporting characters are fun and quirky. The story is heartfelt and entertaining and all in all it is a winning formula. "Under The Tuscan Sun" is a very well made and enjoyable movie with amazing visuals and a great central performance by the great DIANE LANE. 10 out of 10.
Rating: 
Summary: Cute movie
Review: UNDER THE TUSCAN SUN is your standard romantic comedy, but well worth watching. Diane Lane stars, playing Frances, a newly divorced woman who goes on a gay tour of Italy at the suggestion of her gay friend Patti (Sandra Oh). She sees a house and before even thinking about anything, if it's even on sale, she decides she wants to buy it and put everything into it. She meets a bunch of different people and tries to readapt her life in a foreign country where she knows no one, except a handful of people she has just met. The movie is pretty predictable in what will happen, and how it ends, but it was still a fun movie to watch and get swept away in. The visuals were absolutely beautiful and watching it I felt as though I was taken along for the trip. Diane Lane was fabulous in this movie. Overall a pretty good popcorn movie.
Rating:
Summary: Inspiring
Review: This is the most uplifting and inspiring movie I have seen in quite a long time. Despite the fact that it doesn't carry the typical American Hollywood "happy" ending, you still walk away happy and inspired with how the movie progressed. The acting was superb and the scenery alone is worth owning the movie. I highly recommend this film to anyone who is even a little interested in the plot line. It is truly a magnificent find!
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