Italian Nice

HOT TIME, SUMMER IN THE I’TLY: Lane and Raoul Bova bask in the Tuscan sun.

Under the Tuscan Sun captures the look but not the feel of Italian abandon.

by Cindy Fuchs

When her husband unexpectedly leaves her for a chippy (and wants alimony to boot), San Francisco book critic Frances (Diane Lane) is shocked. Soon after, she’s so depressed that she can’t imagine going on with her life. And so she has imagination foisted upon her, in the shape of a prepackaged trip to Italy, courtesy of her best friend, Patti (Sandra Oh), who is worried that Frances is "in danger of never recovering" and whose own unforeseen circumstance -- pregnancy -- prohibits her from taking the trip herself.

Based on Frances Mayes' bestselling memoir, Audrey Wells' Under the Tuscan Sun sends Frances off to Tuscany on a gay tour originally scheduled for Patti and her partner. No matter: Frances is game to play token straight girl for the group, which adopts her as a queer-eye mascot. But she's yearning for love, or independence, or an exit from the States, so she's ready when destiny smacks her upside the head, arriving in Cortona to find Bramasole, a 300-year-old villa (with olive grove) that calls out to her by way of various "signs." She's so struck (and the movie so shameless) that she yells, "Stop the bus!!" in order to flee the tour and trundle up a hill to the villa, which she promptly buys from a sweet old lady.

Like Katharine Hepburn catching sight of Rossano Brazzi, Frances is alternately rejuvenated and buffeted by the bellezza dell'Italia. Such careening turns literal when a fierce thunderstorm provides Frances not only with another "sign," but also with the comfort, next day, of her charming realtor, Signor Martini (Vincent Riotta). While they exchange longing looks as she cries over her sad crazy losses, Martini maintains a modicum of integrity, asserting loyalty to his wife though Frances' tears are so winning.

Melodrama and symbolism tend to collide: When Frances first moves into the villa, a water tap is dry and will eventually be gushing; the house is in dire need of refurbishing, like her life. Even more strained is Frances' global village of a support system, including three eccentric Polish workers (Valentine Pelka, Sasa Vulicevic, Pawel Szadja), whom she regales with her Italian cooking. One of these falls for a local Italian girl, Chiara (Giulia Steigerwalt), and Frances helps them overcome her father's prejudice, holding out for true love despite her own history. Frances' own fling, with handsome Marcello (Raoul Bova), is as cliched, though perhaps less optimistic; Lane performs another Katharine Hepburn moment, fighting back tears and simply stunning in her lovely, '50s-style tight-waisted dress.

Among many overstated emblems is audacious British expatriate Katherine (Lindsay Duncan), who fashions herself after Anita Ekberg in La Dolce Vita, to the extent that she drunkenly steps into a local fountain. Claiming that she worked with Fellini as a teenager, Katherine now quotes him in lieu of her own ideas ("Live spherically"), offering little bits of advice and a freedom that leads to perpetual loss. Boldly seductive and distracting, Katherine remains excessive, a gesture toward the wilder movie-made Italy Under the Tuscan Sun remembers but can't quite embrace.

-- Respond to this article in our Forums -- click to jump there