Ron’s Review

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I’m not the kind of person who’s ever seen the appeal of rom-coms. I’ve spent most of my movie-watching life stridently avoiding them. But, like any normal person on planet Earth, I do like Regé-Jean Page, who is very beautiful and seems to enjoy being in different kinds of films. And hence, I watched You, Me and Tuscany when it came out on VOD. 

Page may have been the draw, but this film is delightful beyond him. You, Me and Tuscany is grounded, and makes the more ludicrous elements of the story work. The characters are absolute darlings and I loved everyone. It is hilarious! I couldn’t believe how smart and witty the dialogue was. I am utterly charmed by it and I’m so glad I watched it! I wish I’d been able to see it in cinemas, but not with ticket prices the way they are in Toronto.

The film follows extremely down-and-out-of-her-luck Anna (Halle Bailey), a house-sitter in New York who had dreams of being a chef before her life was derailed by tragedy. She’s living out others’ fantasies even as her own life completely falls apart. When things really go sideways, and Anna finds no place to live or work, a chance encounter encourages her to follow her craziest passion yet—travelling to Tuscany with no plan. 

Once there, Anna invents a relationship and falls in with a loving family and their extremely good-looking son, Michael (Page), a vintner who’s suffered his own tragedies. Despite the deception, Anna and Michael get close. But lying only begets more lies, until the whole house of cards falls apart. 

One would think faking a relationship would be off-putting but in You, Me and Tuscany, all the lies end up being for such a good reason. And everyone is so understanding about why events occur the way they do. The characters are absolute sweethearts and each one seems so well thought-out. Of course, Anna and Michael have the most backstory and growth. But so are characters like the future sister-in-law, Francesca (Stella Pecollo), who is so friendly and immediately takes to Anna. She’s hilarious and says the most unlikely things, yet is so observant. She made me laugh out loud so many times. 

I absolutely loved Anna’s best friend, Claire (Aziza Scott), who does have her life together and spits hard truths in the most unbelievably funny ways. Everything she said was completely right and the way she said it was too funny. We need a friend like Claire. 

And then there were unexpected characters like Lorenzo (Marco Calvani), the taxi driver, who should have just been a one-scene character, but ends up being Anna’s confidante in Tuscany and a good friend. He was such an injection of lightness and sweetness in this film.

Of course, You, Me and Tuscany is breathtakingly gorgeous to look at. It’s set in Tuscany, after all. The vineyards are massive and verdant. The houses are beautiful. The town is charming and historic.

I also need to acknowledge how rare it is for a rom-com to have two leads of colour, which is shocking to say in 2026, but such is the lack of progress in the movie industry.

What a charming, funny, enthralling film. I was completely taken with You, Me and Tuscany from the start to the finish. I hope we get more rom-coms like this.

Mon’s Review

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Rom-coms are not our genre, but I’ve been listening to a lot of Podstruck: A Rom-Com Rewind, so I feel like I’m an aficionado on what the genre entails. 

I wouldn’t have normally sat down to watch a rom-com like You, Me and Tuscany, but the genre has not had enough Black leads in its mainstream fare and is only now just catching up to that fact. So I decided to give it a go. 

Our lead, Anna (Halle Bailey), has not been able to set her life straight since a personal derailment and is living out fantasies—one house-sitting at a time. When things go super-sideways, she bumps into someone who ends up changing her life. Just not in the way either of them think. 

A spur-of-the-moment decision later, Anna is in Tuscany with little money, no accommodation, but a great and terrible idea. Which is when she meets extremely rude, but can’t-get-away-from wine-maker Michael (Regé-Jean Page) and things get way too complicated. 

What can I say? You, Me and Tuscany was a lot of fun. Not a ton of stress, but plenty of tension with the hi-jinks that ensue. The premise was just far-fetched enough, but didn’t stretch my suspension of disbelief. 

The film was also really really funny. Way too many roms forget the coms part of the deal. Here we’d get laughs from the most random places, but they made sense and they worked. 

While sparks didn’t fly between our leads, they made a comfortable pair. I loved all the supporting characters, especially one character who did a lot of heavy-lifting in the background to demonstrate how she felt. That kind of direction is really missing in films nowadays. I also really loved the best friend and the sister characters. They were so hilarious. I laughed out loud at so much of their dialogue delivery. 

Admittedly, some of the backdrops looked obviously CGI, but the interiors and tighter shots were vivid and realistic. You’re going to wistfully wish for sprawling villas, verdant outdoors and cozy villages. 

The film is full of rom-com tropes, which I actually kinda dug because why reinvent the wheel on something so beloved. Again, most of my knowledge comes from Podstruck. I know very little about rom-coms. 

We need more fun and funny and twee films to get lost in and to make us believe in ourselves, our passions and in love. Just don’t follow everything these characters do because you will end up in a lot of trouble.