A very pretty singer and an extremely handsome actor best known for television star in a romcom directed by someone with a solid career in light entertainment. There is some concern expressed as to whether the movie could be a success because the director is a woman and the stars of the movie are black. You thought I was talking about You, Me & Tuscany? Well, yes, but I am also talking about 1996’s The Preacher’s Wife, a very silly but very sweet romcom starring Whitney Houston and Denzel Washington and directed by Penny Marshall.* Thirty years later women directing movies is no longer a big deal, but a light romance starring two black people really is. It is so incredibly offensive to imagine that we must cater to the world’s racists even, or especially, when creating the lightest of light entertainments. Will two pretty people overcome some minor problems to find happiness?! Let’s hope, because I am pretty tired of having to talk about cheerful fantasias with the language of the revolutionary. You, Me & Tuscany achieves precisely what it sets out to, does so with a great deal of charm, and handles its real-world concerns with a very light touch. Comrades who drag themselves to it in order to teach film producers that audiences love seeing pretty people have a good time will enjoy themselves.
Anna (Halle Bailey) has had a hand-to-mouth existence in New York City since the death of her mother and subsequent choice to drop out of culinary school. A chance encounter in a hotel bar introduces her to handsome Italian businessman Matteo (Lorenzo de Moor), who gushes so much about his home village in Tuscany that Anna is inspired. She has no job, no apartment, but she does have a pre-paid plane ticket and $535 in her bank account. She also speaks Italian so why not go check out Tuscany? Why not indeed?! On arrival in the village Anna immediately makes friends with a cheery and cheap taxi driver named Lorenzo (avant-garde playwright Marco Calvani having a wonderful time paying the bills) who calls his little green car Coochie. There is a series of events through which Anna is discovered in Matteo’s house wearing Matteo’s engagement ring, leading his extended family to welcome Anna with open arms. The family own the village restaurant, allowing for a great many salivating shots of fresh foods, and also a vineyard, run by Matteo’s orphaned cousin Michael (Regé-Jean Page). Michael’s father was British, his parents died when he was a child and he was brought up by Gabriella (Isabella Ferrari), Vincenzo (Paolo Sassanelli) and Nonna Alessia (Stefania Casini) as the only black person for miles around. What could happen?
Writers Ryan Engle and Kristin Engle and director Kat Coiro all understood the assignment: this is a bagatelle, so let’s make a great one. Ms Bailey and Mr Page are more than equal to the task of flirting, comparing sad backstories, singing noughties R&B to each other, and getting damp under the vineyard sprinklers. There’s a shot of a shirtless and moist Mr Page looking so ridiculously handsome that the entire cinema around me was laughing (but not me, because I am a professional. Instead I loudly enjoyed that the first thing Anna noticed about Matteo’s jaw-droppingly gorgeous, million-euro hillside villa was ‘in-unit laundry!’). Mr de Moor also obliges on the handsomeness front, thoughtfully remembering not to button his shirts most of the time. There’s even a contest involving barrels rolled around the village just so that we can compare and contrast everybody’s muscular forearms. The only downside to all this good cheer and auntie-appropriate sex appeal are voicemails from Anna’s bestie Claire (Aziza Scott), who is weirdly convinced all these jolly Europeans can’t wait to murder an adorable American tourist who speaks their language.
My only real problem with You, Me & Tuscany is a small food-related spoiler for the big finale: how on earth, in Europe, at the last minute, was Anna able to find grits?** I mean sure, they could have stopped the film at any point for a rousing lecture on Italy’s not particularly welcoming attitude to its black citizens. They could also have had the Italians wonder which presidential candidate Anna voted for in the last election. But this is a piece of fluff. The Italians wander around singing opera, moving crates of wine and fresh vegetables from one place to another and confiding about their infidelities. Everybody repeatedly encourages Anna to start cooking again. The entire family is adamant that Michael is not a charity case but a full and adored member of the family, especially beloved due to his choice to stay local and work in the family business. It’s Matteo who is the selfish one for moving abroad and not coming home much. The family’s enthusiasm for Anna is because her presence in the village leads them to think their prodigal son has decided to come home.
The truth is that if anyone is a villain here, it’s Anna. She is a scammer who does help herself to other people’s things and other people’s lives. Her constant worry about money and awareness of what everything costs is a refreshing plot point. She is also a young person knocked sideways by grief, which everybody can tell thanks to Ms. Bailey’s solid performance as a fighter determined to keep on the sunny side. Anna only needs a little courage and encouragement to do the right thing. Luckily she has a handsome man with a gorgeous house, fancy classic car and wounded eyes telling her that he’s destined to end up alone. Mr. Page’s dry sense of humour about all this is especially to be commended, since his performance gives the people exactly what they want. This kind of feel-good froth is exactly what movies are supposed to provide us, and You, Me & Tuscany definitely succeeds. I simply refuse to denounce You, Me & Tuscany on any level.
*On seeing a news report that said the future of black people in Hollywood would depend on the box-office success of The Preacher’s Wife, I immediately dragged my sister to the mall multiplex to go see it. We left a note for our mom pointing to the article saying we’d had to go to the movies FOR SOLIDARITY even though it was a school night. And we didn’t get in trouble! Unfortunately the nine bucks that we contributed to The Preacher’s Wife box office must not have been effective, because here we are again.
**I am serious. I have been trying to find grits in the UK for decades without success!
You, Me & Tuscany is now in theaters.
Learn more about the film at the IMDB site for the title.
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