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# Anyone with a heart will love ‘Under The Tuscan Sun’
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/anyone-with-a-heart-will-love-under-the-tuscan-sun/
- Published: 2003-09-26T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T03:00:34.000Z
- Author: Dan Dunn
- Tags: Entertainment, Santa Monica, #archive-import

Diane Lane stars as a recently divorced woman on the mend in this gorgeous, thoroughly enjoyable romantic dramedy about second chances, and the healing power of both friendship and flings with Italian heartthrobs. Shot on location by veteran director of photography Geoffrey Simpson (“Shine”) in the postcard-pretty Italian countryside, “Under The Tuscan Sun” is surely one of the most aesthetically winning films of the year. And the revitalized Lane is once again a joy to behold as Frances Mayes, a San Francisco-based, 40-something writer whose life is turned upside down when her husband suddenly leaves her for a younger woman.

Hoping to lift her out of a serious funk, Patti (Sandra Oh of “Arliss,” playing the requisite gay best friend) surprises Frances with a 10-day trip to Tuscany. Once there, she impulsively buys a broken-down villa called Bramasole (which translates to “something that yearns for the sun”), and the reparation project is under way. The likable cast of supporting characters includes Frances’ kindly realtor Signor Martini (Vincent Riotta), fun-loving British hedonist Katherine (Lindsay Duncan) and Marcello (Raoul Bova) an Italian hunk who passes through town, but not before stopping by the villa to help Frances with some much-needed, uh, “repairs.”

What could have amounted to nothing more than a glorified “Lifetime” movie of the week turns out to be a genuine affirmation of the power of the human spirit, thanks to a clever script by writer-director Audrey Wells that eschews the conventions of the romance genre and allows some very identifiable characters to explore provocative emotional territory. It’s hard to imagine anyone with a heart not finding something to embrace “Under The Tuscan Sun.” (Rated PG-13 for sexual content and language. Running time: 113 minutes)

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on September 26, 2003.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/092603.pdf?ref=smdp.com)