As someone who loves film, I’m open to all genres and can appreciate their differences. While romantic comedies may not be my favorite type of film due to their more formulaic structure, I would be lying if I said I didn’t have a fun time watching them.
“You, Me & Tuscany” is led by actors Halle Bailey and Regé-Jean Page, both of whom I hadn’t seen in their previous films. It’s very refreshing to be able to watch a movie these days without knowing much about the main actors, since major film studios tend to prefer widely known actors in their films for the audience to recognize.
“You, Me & Tuscany” follows Anna (Bailey), a young woman struggling to make ends meet, who flies to Italy to stay at a stranger’s villa without permission. When Anna arrives at the villa, she realizes his family is living there and convinces them she is the man’s fiancée. Anna soon realizes she’s in over her head when she starts to develop feelings for the man’s cousin, Michael (Page).
From the little time spent in Anna’s hometown, New York, it’s immediately clear she does not have her life together. The film cleverly tricks the audience with an opening montage of Anna flaunting around the city in designer clothes, only to later reveal the clothes actually belonged to a woman whose house Anna was supposed to be looking after.
Anna meets the stranger, Matteo (Lorenzo de Moor), soon after this incident. He tells her about his family villa, which he left out of refusal to join the family business, and she books a flight to Tuscany to stay in the villa, assuming Matteo was the only person living there. Admittedly, I would have liked to spend more time with Anna in New York, since her struggles are mentioned throughout the film, yet we only get to see a quick glimpse of this past life.
While I wished we had more time in New York, the transition to Italy was one of my favorite parts of the entire film. Fittingly accompanied by Olivia Dean’s “So Easy (To Fall In Love),” the entire montage of Anna’s travel is filled with gorgeous shots of the Italian landscape with a gentle, warm color grading. I’m not always keen on inserting relatively new pop songs in films, as they typically feel forced, but this song’s romantic tone elevated the scene tremendously.
But I could only be blinded by the beauty for so long, and a couple of moments later, I was reminded of one of my biggest gripes with this film: the pacing.
The screenplay was written by Ryan Engle, more commonly known for his action films like “Rampage” and “Beast.” Although action is a genre that is meant to move at a rapid pace to prevent the viewer from getting bored, this nonstop energy doesn’t translate to rom-coms. I felt like Anna’s character never had time to breathe and was being thrown into one stressful situation after another. Thankfully, the film slows down a little once Anna encounters Michael at the villa.
The film’s saving grace was easily the performances from Bailey and Page. Their shared screentime was oozing with chemistry, and their friendly banter was fun to watch. While Bailey played her part well, it was Page who truly captivated me. Page mastered the charismatic nature of Michael, and his emotional range was surprisingly strong for a romantic comedy, balancing both affection and distance.
The dialogue was far from perfect, but when it came to these two actors, it was clear they were trying their hardest to make it work.
One particular moment that stood out to me was when Michael offered Anna a wine-tasting at his vineyard. What began as a charming romantic scene quickly turned sour, as the two began to share their backstories with cringeworthy banter. This should have been one of the most romantic moments of the film, but the cheesy dialogue made the scene come across slightly awkward.
Outside of this sequence, there are surprisingly very few scenes with just Anna and Michael, making their relationship feel more casual than intimate. This is the unfortunate result of Engle’s rapid pacing, with little time allotted for developing the love between these two characters. This romance is supposed to be the heart of the film, but it felt muddled with too much focus on other side plots like Matteo’s desire for approval from his family.
Regardless, I still had a good time with this film once I stopped taking it so seriously. The gorgeous visuals of Italy paired with charming performances by Bailey and Page were enough to keep me engaged throughout the film’s runtime.
