Rating: 
Summary: An exquisite memoir about taking a chance.
Review: Diane Lane buys a run down house in Tuscany called Bramasole (longing for the sun). This film is a celebration of Italian life. The countryside will make you want to pack a bag and abandon everything you have for a new life in Tuscany. It is a wonderful tale of a woman who's life crumbles underneath her and how she recovers such devestation as she discovers the beauty and simplicity of life in Italy. I laughed, I cried and I laughed some more. It will make you crave the tastes, smells and pleasures of the Italian countryside. A fantastic film that I could watch over and over again. If you like the movie, pick up the book and it's sequel Bella Tuscany.
Rating:
Summary: Stunning masterpiece and great fun.
Review: I loved this film so much. It is one of the best romantic comedies I have seen and the acting by Diane Lane was incrdeible. The scenery was fabulous and the movie is infused with fun, comedy and drama. A great movie. A stunning masterpiece of the genre. 5 stars.
Rating: 
Summary: Not The Usual Romantic Comedy - GOOD!
Review: I am not a huge fan of the romantic comedy genre. More often than not, a romantic comedy is nothing more than a few good looking people thrown together and saddled with a lousy script. That's not to say that there aren't notable exceptions, but for the most part they suck. Based on the previews for this movie, I didn't have high hopes, however I did receive a free pass to watch a sneak preview for the movie, so how could I say no? Having not read the book, I really didn't know what to expect. Let me tell you it was a pleasant surprise. For starters, Diane Lane was the perfect choice for the lead character Frances Mayes. She brings a natural reality to the character, instead of the saccharin sweet typically found in a romantic comedy. Diane instantly makes you feel like you know this woman. She's your neighbor, or someone you work with. In the scene after she learns of her husband's infidelities, she looks horrible - exactly like you'd expect like a woman would look after traumatic news. Of course Diane Lane is a very beautiful woman and as the movie progresses that becomes more and more apparent. Luckily Diane is more than just a pretty face and her performance is stellar. The movie as a whole is understated, letting things play out instead of spelling everything out and Diane provides a wonderful tapestry for you to see what is happening to her. Her reactions tell you more than pithy dialog ever could and as a result you end up taking the journey with her. As much as I loved Diane Lane in this movie, she is surrounded by an incredible supporting cast. Sandra Oh, as the best friend, delivers an authentic performance. Instead of the typical "funny sidekick" so often played by those in the role of best friend, she's down to earth and real. Raoul Bova plays the Italian lover and should make most women weak in the knees, but I found Vincent Riotta, the real estate agent, to be a much richer character. And speaking of rich characters, Lindsay Duncan plays a wonderful eccentric as Katherine who almost serves as a fairy godmother. Although the acting is surpurb, what brings it all together are the talents of Audrey Wells who serves as the screenplay writer, director and producer. Most of Audrey's background has been in writing. This is only her second film as a director, yet you wouldn't know it by watching the film. Clearly Ms. Wells has a love of Italy and a love of the novel and all of that shows on the screen. She filmed in the cities that are represented and she hired actors that are the nationality in which they play and the age in which they should be. The entire films shines with authenticity and coupled with wonderful performances and directing, Audrey has redefined the romantic comedy. This movie was refreshing, witty, poetic, dramatic and rich with characters that you not only like, but identify with. It was such a breath of fresh air that I'm ready to see it again and again.
Rating:
Summary: leave your seat and hop a plane!!!
Review: I saw this movie at a sneak preview and will see it again when it comes out just because I know a few people who need to see this movie. This movie is a tune-up for the soul. If anyone has been down on thier luck or not so lucky in love this movie will pour some sweetness into that bitter place. I laughed, I cried several times this movie evoked that youthful part inside me that needs to be awakened every so often. With the beautiful cinematography and portrayal of the people you want to leave your seat and hop a plane for Tuscany. I heard so many people saying that as they left the theatre. Go see this movie and laugh and cry all at the same time.
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Summary: Finding La Dolce Vita--a Must See for Italophiles
Review: San Francisco based writer, college professor and book critic, Frances Mayes, hits the emotional skids when she is informed of her husband's extramarital affair and finds herself immersed in a divorce that lands her in a dismal hotel complex inhabited by sad and scarred victims of separation. Even though she is caught in the tailspin of her own disappointment, she accepts the gift of a trip to Tuscany from friends and embarks on a journey that will gradually fuel her life with optimism. On impulse, she purchases a ramshackle farmhouse in the countryside near Cortena and sets upon the seemingly impossible task of its renovation while simultaneously reinventing her own sensibilities and her lifestyle in general. As she toils under the Tuscan sun as an outsider to the town and its people, she finds herself becoming one of them, seeing each of the lives she encounters as an individual quest for La Dolce Vita so poignantly captured in Fellini's film and echoed by the aging Anita Ekberg wannabe who attempts to and advises Frances to retain a childlike innocence and exuberance when viewing any situation in the big bad world.
With a lead like Diane Lane playing Frances, there must. of course, be a man, in this case a delicious hunk of Italian that cavalierly convinces Frances and the cameras to follow him from the ochre magnificence of Rome to the tiered splendor of the Amalfi coast. These sequences explode with so much visual pleasure the viewer sighs, involuntarily blinded by the sensual overload of color and sound and as expected, glimpses of both Lane and her lover as they frolic to the tune of the campanile's bells.
For those who have read the book of the same name, there is no comparison. These are completely different stories. If you are expecting the idyllic sweetness of the book with its anecdotes of Italian life, forget it. The movie-Frances dwells on her divorce which springboards her into asking some of life's big questions, while the book-Frances has already worked all this out prior to writing the first page and immerses herself in the simple lovely indulgence of following the course of a sweet life of which she has already mapped out. The "Ed" that Frances finds at the end of the film, is with the book-Frances from the very start; in fact, they renovate the house together, content from the outset.
I entered the theatre expecting this film to be mediocre based on the ubiquitous trailers seen on television which try far too hard to make the film seem cutsy rather than stimulating. My advise is to watch none of these sugary confections which take words of dialogue out of context to appeal to a certain audience; if you like all things Italian and are indeed, searching for a dolce vita of your own, go see the film. Disregard the obvious contrivances in the plot and prepare yourself to fall in love with the lush scenery that gently lulls that annoying sense of American expediency out of existence, for at least the two hour viewing time. Above all, view the film with the childlike pleasure of the Italians for whom every experience is a new one to be savored. Then go out and buy a copy of the book La Dolce Vita offered on Amazon.com to begin your own quest for the sweet life.
Rating:
Summary: A Terrific First Course
Review: My wife and I saw Under the Tuscan Sun at a sneak preview screening and enjoyed it tremendously. Fans of the book shouldn't have too many issues with the creative license taken, although I felt like I would have liked to have seen more about the culture and the house worked into the story, and less emphasis on some of the added characters such as the eccentric lady in the village. The movie kept me laughing and even stirred up a few tears, and only crossed the line into camp a couple of times. Overall it is a good solid romantic comedy with integrity, good performances, and beautiful photography. Warning: it may make you want to pack for a trip to Europe.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful and joyous gem of a film!
Review: "Under The Tuscan Sun" was fabulous from start to finish. It is the ultimate date movie and the ultimate feel-good film. The movie looks like $100 million dollars and Diane Lane gives another Academy Award worthy performance (she was last seen as Best Actress Oscar nominee in "Unfaithful"). This really is a fun, warm, feel-good film that has something for everyone. Great movie and very highly recommended.
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Summary: Now is time for a Film review
Review: Diane Lane is a solid actress who has always found herself attached to strangely unsatisfying films. This one suffers from that syndrome as well, or perhaps it actually benefits from it. Most modern "women's" pictures are about sex. If a woman is unattached we are to assume she will have her legs wrapped instantly around a man who will moreover be her "soul mate" though he or she may need some convincing. The strange thing is you see "Mr. Darcy" largely from frame one. Jane Austen would be horrified and amazed how her formula had been distorted. Here we even have "the best friend" asking has Lane met "him" yet. We are to assume that if you go to Tuscany you are bound to instantly find True Love. But this film does not deliver. I understand many liberties were taken with the book. Wow, they made a book into a movie and they changed it. Do tell. Though it is not a great film, this is the movie that could. I laughed, I actually cried - at first because the countryside is SO beautiful and then because it got to me. Sure there are strange flourishes with the supporting cast that make little sense. The lady who plays the former protégé of Fellini is so odd I thought our heroine had a stroke and was seeing ghosts. But overall it was a delightful experience. To those folks who are jumping all over Ms. Lane because she's "past her prime" I say: Keep living, you'll be over 40 someday too. We'll laugh at you then. Part culture lesson, part travelogue, with just the right amount of misdirected romance. And Ms. Lane providing that swirl of chaos, lovely.
Rating:
Summary: A beautiful, joyful, uplifting feelgood romp through Tuscany
Review: There is seldom a GREAT romantic comedy. More often than not they are just good to very good or just plain awful. This is one of those GREAT films that has everything in it for everybody. It's not too sappy and it has an integrity that many films of this type lack. It has a great lead performance in Diane Lane (Academy Award nominee for last years "Unfaithful") as France Mayes, and the scenery and atmosphere is superb in every detail. This is one beautiful looking picture that needs to be seen on the big screen. All in all "Under The Tuscan Sun" is a beautiful, joyful, uplifting film with a great setting. It is the ultimate feelgood romp through Tuscany, and it is a trip worth taking and taking and taking again... 5 stars all the way!
Rating:
Summary: Heart warming movie
Review: I saw the movie last night in a preview showing. I found it to be very charming. The best part of the movie by far is the cinematography. Tuscany and Italy in general are both places that I have never been before but just seeing this movie makes me want to go there all the more. I felt that the story line of this movie has a few holes but otherwise is very entertaining. My reccomendation would be to see this movie in a matine or wait until it comes out on video.
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