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Under the Tuscan Sun
By Nell Minow,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Book-based romance has sex, drinking, language.
A Lot or a Little?
What you will—and won't—find in this movie.
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Community Reviews
Based on 3 parent reviews
One of my favorites. Totally NOT for kids under 11.
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PG 13 but not for 13 year olds
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What's the Story?
After her divorce, Frances Mayes (Diane Lane) agrees to take a tour of Tuscany when her best friend Patti (Sandra Oh) buys her a ticket. Frances isn't looking for romantic entanglements. But she ends up with an entanglement of a different kind, impulsively buying an ancient house called Bramasole, which translates into "yearning for the sun." And yes, it is Frances who is yearning for the sun, and yes, the renovation of the house is a metaphor for renovating her spirits. On this emotional journey, she will meet kind souls who will impart life lessons. A free-spirited Englishwoman, a kind local realtor, and three Polish construction workers help her get ready to enter back into life again, and a charming Italian man helps her begin by reminding her that she is capable of loving and being loved. Frances makes a wish for a wedding and a family in the house and when at first it seems that the wedding and the family are not the ones she wished for, she begins to understand that they really are just what she wanted. And she learns that she can help others who yearn for the sun, healing herself at the same time.
Is It Any Good?
Like the crumbling Italian villa at the center of the story, there's a lot wrong with this film, but it's so enticing -- especially for its intended audience -- that it's hard to resist. The best-selling book by Frances Mayes about her restoration of a crumbling villa is beautifully written and wonderfully evocative, but it does not have much of a story. So writer/director Audrey Wells has taken the real Mayes, and thrown a lot of plot at her.
The problem is that director/screenwriter Wells tells us a lot more than she shows us. She seems to have no understanding of how to translate a story into film. The movie often seems abrupt and unfinished and the characters are superficially drawn. The script tells us how the characters feel about each other but does not make it matter enough for us to believe in or care about the way their relationships are resolved. Lane brings as much to the material as is humanly possible, but is given little to do beyond looking wistful and wounded. But it is all beguilingly pretty to watch and its message of hope and second chances is beguilingly pretty, too.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about all of the advice that Frances gets. What does she learn from it?
How does the movie depict sex? How does that compare to depictions in other movies?
Movie Details
- In theaters: September 26, 2003
- On DVD or streaming: February 3, 2004
- Cast: Diane Lane , Raoul Bova , Sandra Oh
- Director: Audrey Wells
- Inclusion Information: Female actors, Asian actors
- Studio: Touchstone Pictures
- Genre: Drama
- Run time: 113 minutes
- MPAA rating: PG-13
- MPAA explanation: sexual content and language
- Last updated: July 31, 2023
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