Alexandria, VA – Just when you thought that date night had gone the way of the rom-com, along comes a ray of Tuscan sun. The new ROMEantic comedy starring singing sister act Halle Bailey and eight-pack awesome-abs Bridgerton hunk Regé-Jean Page has come to our emotional rescue.
The script, by Ryan Engle and in the hands of director Kat Coiro, deftly delivers a vicarious vacay romance that skirts the edges of a Hallmark flick taken straight from a grab-n-go romance novel at the airport Hudson bookstore. It’s always walking a razor’s edge when men write from a woman’s perspective, invariably proving that we are all Venus, not just from Venus.
The plot is formulaic: Boy meets girl. Boy slips out before room-service breakfast, leaving Girl a note. Girl goes to Italy where Boy’s family falls in love with her amidst the Toscana vines and snowballing mix-ups.
Somehow this works. Halle Bailey’s Anna is radiant as the culinary-schooled chef, now professional house sitter. She falls in love with all things Italian, including Boy’s charismatic cousin Michael, while purporting to be engaged to Boy, actually Matteo Costa, played by dishy Dutch-Italian Adonis Lorenzo de Moro.
As an oenophile I paid particular attention to the winemaking continuity. So yes, there are in fact wine barrels dating back to the 1500s. The oldest being in France and Germany. And, yes! Leonardo Da Vinci is reputedly the inventor of the tappo colmatore, an airlock device that controls the release of carbon dioxide during fermentation while keeping oxygen out.
But the seductiveness of the Costa palazzo and winery dripping purple wisteria and luscious grape vines are incongruous. Wisteria blooming would not occur until late April-early May in Tuscany. The Sangiovese grapes that Anna and Michael taste right off the vines (where we get the scenes of Michael’s chivalrous taking off his shirt to save Anna’s distinctive hairline edges on more than one occasion), would not be large, still green, or palatable until mid-late summer.
You, Me & Tuscany was filmed in Pienza in July 2025 with a largely unknown cast and local extras. A cameo appearance by Nia Vardalos, Oscar-nominated for the screenplay of My Big Fat Greek Wedding, was a welcome exception. Principal photography began on the Amalfi Coast in June 2025. Danny Ruhlmann’s cinematography is a love letter to Italy. A cinematic postcard home: “Scenery is beautiful. Wish we were there!”
Make no mistake about it; the film is a falling-in-love story with Italy. The food. The wine. The landscape. The people. Until November 2025, the film was titled Italiana. While Anna inevitably falls for Michael, we fall even harder for Italy. And Anna. And Michael. And Mateo. Even Marco Calvani as Lorenzo steals scenes and hearts. Never underestimate the persuasiveness of a hopelessly romantic Italian Fiat taxi driver named Cucci.
The tagline for the film pitch was “She came for the pasta…and got lost in the sauce.” After countless dystopian date nights, it’s a pleasure not to have to think about world-upending scenarios. Take my word for it, this is one Tuscan sun you’ll want to get under and stay forever, eating with gusto, praying con anima, and loving moltissimo.
You, Me, & Tuscany is rated PG-13 for adult themes. It’s marked safe for date-night, girls’ night, romantics, wine lovers, and foodies.
