You, Me & Tuscany: Another Rom-Com Straight Off the Assembly Line (Blu-ray)

The Film:

As always, when it comes to the over-saturated genre of romantic-comedies, the single biggest hope one can have when watching one of these films is to find one that doesn't have a strict adherence to the standard formula that the vast majority of them can't seem to get away from. Whenever they recycle it yet again, all we end up with is a banal, predictable, cliched mess in which the audience can name every beat well before it happens, making the need for a hefty dose of originality even more prevalent. This brings us to "You, Me & Tuscany," where director Kat Coiro and screenwriter Ryan Engle attempt to give us their take on this oh-so-troubled type of film. Will they be able to shake off the shackles of the old & tired formula to give audiences the originality they've been yearning for?

The film follows Anna Montgomery (Halle Bailey), a house sitter who once had dreams of being a chef, but gave it up after her mother died. One evening, she meets an Italian named Matteo Costa (Lorenzo de Moor) and the two spend the night together, during which he shows her pictures of his home in Italy. She wakes up to find him gone, leaving behind an apology note that also tells her to follow her dreams, leading her to fly to Tuscany using the ticket her mother had gotten her.

After a somewhat brash interaction with a local wine merchant, Michael Costa (Regé-Jean Page), she finds herself with no place to stay due to her arriving during their Summer Festival, forcing her to stay in Matteo's empty villa. The next morning, she is awakened by the groundskeeper and finds herself trying to hide from members of Matteo's family, but she is soon discovered with an engagement ring that she found in a drawer. This leads to the misunderstanding that she's Matteo's fiancee, a deception that Anna decides to play into. With the family quickly accepting her, she finds it rather easy to play along, but after a few days, it becomes clear that she's starting to develop feelings for Michael, who just happens to be Matteo's adopted brother. Will love bloom between the two, or will Anna have to see her ruse through to the end?

"You, Me & Tuscany" is one of those rom-coms that gives you a sneaking suspicion from the very start that it wants to lean very heavily into playing it safe. With its cutesy opening that has a young, down-on-her luck woman having a one-night-stand with someone that just happens to motivate her to go to Italy, a lot of the set-up feels somewhat forced & familiar. This feeling continues as she quickly finds herself in a rather awkward situation that forces her to put on an act, one that naturally involves two men for her to choose from, subsequently leading to the film checking off each and every box from the dreaded standard formula checklist.

It's a shame because the scenario of having to pretend to be someone's fiancee could've led to some interesting places, but again, with Engle playing it so incredibly safe, no such attempt is even made, leading to the usual romantic entanglement with the man Anna actually develops feelings for, the twist that presents the possibility of the two not ending up together, and the resolve that puts a bow on its expected happy ending. No deviation whatsoever, just a story that feels as though it was put together on an assembly line, with each worker connecting a piece of the formula.

In a search for the film's more positive aspects, leads Halle Bailey & Regé-Jean Page are certainly up to the task, trying to squeeze what romance they can from the material, and those playing the Italian family seem to be having fun, but sadly there just isn't a lot that can be done with the cliche-drenched screenplay. What we're ultimately left with is a film that has gorgeous scenery throughout, but which needed to be a little more bold and far less rigid in its approach to the genre, for such adherence to what has been done so many times before merely leaves us with something that audiences will forget before it's even over.

Video/Audio:

"You, Me & Tuscany" comes to Blu-ray in a 2.00:1, 1080p High Definition transfer of excellent quality. The picture is beautifully sharp throughout the entire 105-minute presentation, perfectly highlighting the film's gorgeous Italian scenery. Likewise, the 7.1 Dolby TrueHD audio track is fantastic, giving you all of the dialogue & music in outstanding quality. Overall, Universal has done a marvelous job in both areas for the film's physical debut.

Special Features:

Feature Commentary with Director Kat Coiro and Producer Will Packer

You & Me (4 Minutes): A quick look at the main characters.

Racing Through Tuscany (2 Minutes): A brief featurette about the barrel race scene.

La Famiglia (6 Minutes): A featurette that explores the Costa family & the actors who play them.

Taste of Italy (5 Minutes): A featurette the delves into the importance of the food in the film.

Going Green in Italy (1 Minute): A short PSA.

Conclusion:

Kat Coiro's "You, Me & Tuscany" has an ensemble that's up to the task of trying to make the material work, and features plenty of gorgeous Italian scenery throughout, but with a screenplay that follows the old, tired, and cliche-filled formula to the letter, it ultimately delivers a rote & mechanical rom-com that is quickly forgotten.

Score: 2.5/5

Now available on Blu-ray.

Follow me on Twitter @BeckFilmCritic.