Movie Review – Under the Tuscan Sun (2003)
Overall 3.5 / 5.0 (recommended)
Gay Content 1.5 / 5.0
Gay Positivity 4.5 / 5.0
A pleasant if bland diversion. The plot is mostly chick-flick formula with few surprises. The director is obviously counting on the beautiful cinematography and an engaging performance by Diane Lane (playing the protagonist, Frances) to carry the film.
This discovering-oneself-through-foreign-adventure movie recalls the British film “Shirley Valentine.” Middle-aged housewife has marital problems (although why any husband would stray from Diane Lane is beyond me), and friends offer the opportunity to vacation in a beautiful Mediterranean country. While visiting, the woman decides to stay, has a brief romance, attends a wedding, and in the process finds herself.
“Under the Tuscan Sun” is the more polished film, having been produced by a major studio. And yet, while UTTS has a shinier veneer, “Shirley Valentine” offers more heart.
UTTS’s basic story is sound, but some of the subplots are downright corny. The young-people-in-love story, though it served as a counterpoint to Frances’ own romantic foibles, comes across more saccharine than sweet.
Something similar happened with the character of Frances. Lane is a charming actress, but while Frances had a great adventure, I never got the sense that she had really grown as a person. In part, this weakness comes from the writer and director trying to force a feel-good, inspirational vibe onto the story. Other subplots are overdone: Katherine (Lindsay Duncan) is a great character, embodying a life lived fully, but she’s overplayed and as a result becomes more caricature than real person. The movie would have benefited from a lighter, more comedic approach.
As a pleasant surprise, the movie does contain some minor gay content. Frances’ best friend Patti (played by the fantastic Sandra Oh) is a lesbian, and Frances discovers Tuscany while traveling on a gay tour (she herself is straight). Patti’s lesbianism is more artifact (“hey, let’s make this movie contemporary by giving her a lesbian best friend!”) than meaningful, and the characters from the tour (including Dan Bucatinsky of “All Over The Guy” fame) are sweet but definitely bit players. Still, it’s nice to watch a movie with just the casual presence of the gay content.
Overall, if you sometimes wish you could escape into a painting of the Tuscan landscape, this movie is for you. If you want a movie that will inspire, check out “Shirley Valentine” instead. For a fantastic book with a similar theme, I highly recommend “A Different Kind of Country” by Dorothy Oilman (which I actually prefer to the book version of UTTS).
A word of warning – do not expect a movie true to the book. They share a title, and both take place primarily in Tuscany. The similarities end there.
