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I assume this movie has already been discussed before I joined this message board. However here’s my 2 cents:
Terrific film. Diane Lane … gets better with every film she makes. There is not a bad line, scene, shot or performance in the movie. Funny, sexy, touching … and of course (sigh) Diane Lane.
Cheers,
Angler
Welcome to the Dope.
I liked the movie, too. I went to it with 5 divorced women, so I got a very interesting look at some of the funnier and sadder stuff.
Diane Lane is a hunnybabe to the nth degree.
I’m almost done reading the book, and have only seen the trailer and read all the articles about the movie, but I am amazed at what a wonderful agent Frances Mayes has. She sold the movie rights to basically the title, the name of the house and maybe three comic moments in the book (remember, I haven’t seen the movie yet). The book is your basic “Year in Provence” set in Italy, with recipes. Travelouge, food commentary, yes…romantic novel, no. Brilliant. They really didn’t have to bother paying her the money…they could have come up with their own title, house name and funny moment on their own.
Never have I read a book so unlike the movie! Can you think of any other movies that have veered so far from what the author wrote (and I don’t mean simply substituting a happy ending for sad, condensing characters, etc.)
Dune.
No. Dune was still the basic storyline as in the book. Same characters, same stupid line "Dune…desert planet…blah, blah blah.
Tuscan Sun the book is the story of a woman and her boyfriend who happily spend a few years searching for and haggling for a house in Italy, then spend a few more years pulling weeds, moving rocks, painting, scrubbing and cooking…and they give recipes. No angst, already happily in love, sane friends who aren’t a big part of the story.
Tuscan Sun the Movie is about a dumped woman who runs off to Italy, falls in love with a house she sees, immediately buys it, has goofy friends come visit, falls in love and lives happily ever after.
Props to Diane Lane but a dumbed-down Disney product through and through. If Mickey Mouse had suddenly appeared in the Tuscan landscape, I wouldn’t have been surprised.
All true, kitty. But, up until Tuscan Sun, Dune was the movie that most deviated from the book. For the movies I’ve seen anyways.
The Chricton and Grisham stories get mangled quite a bit, too, but Dune was horrendous.
Tuscan Sun deviated more as a movie, but it was still an enjoyable show. Dune wasn’t.
Just saw it last weekend. I really like this. All good actors. Wonderful scenery, of course.
My wife and I both enjoyed Under the Tuscan Sun (the movie… comments in the thread make me curious to read the book). It was a good popcorn movie, though lacked a certain depth.
It had most of the standard cliche elements of similar movies: there’s a birth, a wedding, a healthy dose of “bad man does clueless woman wrong” and a sprinkling of liberation sex. And yet, the film handled these things in a somewhat original way, and remained entertaining for us.
The ending was the only unfortunate part for me. The movie seemed to be trying to make a point, made it… then went on for five more minutes to weaken it. Specifically…
She realizes she’s gotten everything she wants (a family, a wedding, etc.), but not in the way she expected it. Then, of course, she meets The Man. :rolleyes:
Still, despite this, we both came away from it a little lighter in our step than we were going in. We intended the film as a happy distraction, and we got it.