 Movie
Reviews
with Evelyn Gough
Under the Tuscan Sun
Written & Directed by Audrey Wells
 If you're going to San Francisco - or Tuscany - be sure to wear flowers in your hair...
Farewell faithful Echo readers. I'm off to Tuscany to buy a villa and find myself a gorgeous Italian lover! Yeah I wish!
Ok, so that may be a case of dreaming the impossible dream but for two hours at least you can bask in the golden light of the Italian countryside and fantasise.
Under the Tuscan Sun is guaranteed to do for Italy what Shirley Valentine did for the Greek Islands. I'm sure the Italian tourist industry helped finance this film and if they didn't, they should have. It's definitely given me a case of itchy feet and a longing for "La Dolce Vita".
Diane Lane stars as Frances Mayes, a writer whose life is thrown into turmoil at the discovery of her husband's affair and their subsequent divorce. When her best friend Patti (Sandra Oh) gives her a trip to Italy, (now that's what I call a best friend!) she impulsively buys a run down villa in Tuscany.
Her new villa, Bramasole, needs a lot of work done on it so one of France's first tasks is to find a contractor capable of restoring it back to it's former glory. She settles on an elderly local tradesman and his crew of Polish workers and is soon embroiled in their lives and loves.
As for her own love life, it takes a turn of the better when she meets a handsome stranger while shopping in Rome.
Things are definitely looking up but will Frances' dreams of having someone to cook for and a family to fill the empty villa ever come true?
Based loosely on the novel of the same name (and no, I haven't read it!), Under the Tuscan Sun screams chick-flick (not that there's anything wrong with that). There are no fast Ferraris or large breasted women in skimpy bikinis. Instead there are great performances, characters you care about and beautiful cinematography. This is a film I can happily recommend to my mum and other friends who just want some feel-good escapism.
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