The cast of supporting characters is rather eclectic, both in personality and in acting skill. Frances's best friend Patti, played by the talented Sandra Oh ("The Princess Diaries"), is a pregnant lesbian who convinces Frances to take the trip to Italy in the first place. She gives Frances a ticket to a "Gay and Away" tour of Tuscany, which is humorous in its own right.
Oh's acting is the only real asset in the movie. Her lines are surprisingly refreshing and range from, "Is it possible to star-69 Italy?" to "Oh, my god, Frances! Hot water is pouring out of the toilet! It'd be good if we wanted a facial. Maybe it'd be called an ass-cial," and "These trees are creepy, like creepy Italian trees. I'm going to have a creepy Italian baby who will say things like, 'ciao mama.'"
But fortunately, Oh's role transcends simple comic relief. She offers an especially moving performance when she shows up at the villa unannounced, claiming that she has just been dumped by her life partner. Many of the other characters, however, fail to live up to Oh's high standard.
Raoul Bova ("Avenging Angelo") plays Marcello, an Italian man with whom Lane has a very brief affair. Marcello is the most poorly developed character in the movie and is the quintessential stereotype of the Italian stallion. His romantic blather includes, "I wish I could swim in your eyes," and "I want to make love all over you." Can we say that these quotes are as trite as ordering pizza in Italy?
What I find most ironic, however, is Lane's naive hope. She runs into Marcello in a street, goes to the countryside with him and sleeps with him that night. Depressingly, Lane thinks that they have a future. She gets quite upset four months later when she finds out he has found someone else.
Even Lane's recovery from mental breakdown was uninspiring, and I could not find myself sympathetic to her; I just found her incredibly stupid.
Without a doubt, the most electrifying character who Frances encounters is Katherine, played by Lindsay Duncan ("Mansfield Park"), a mysterious elderly Italian lady who dispenses spurts of advice every now and then. She spends her precious time flirting with half-naked artists, kissing birds and dancing in fountains.
Every so often Katherine heckles Frances to retain her "childhood innocence." Her character is meant to clarify the otherwise vague themes, but instead she convolutes the movie with her annoying and unoriginal cliches.
Some important themes are introduced, if not developed fully. One of Frances' contractors is a very handsome and innocent Pole, who falls in love with a beautiful Italian teen. The problem is Papa Italiano will never approve of anything less than a full-blooded Italian. Here lies some real potential to address a theme of importance, but "Under the Tuscan Sun" once again falls short. Frances ends up delivering a completely insipid speech on the nature of love that leaves the audience rolling their eyes in disgust.
In contrast to its tasteless dialogue, the film depicts Italy beautifully, indulging us with gorgeous scenes of Tuscany and shots of a bustling marketplace and verdant olive fields. Even with such a striking and colorful background, however, the movie falls flat.
When it comes down to it, the scenery upstages everything else. This movie could be considered quite charming if you enjoy a plot as old as Italian wine. If not, I'd say skip "Under the Tuscan Sun."