If you feel flashbacks while watching this, it's because it resembles Diane Lane's Under The Tuscan Sun to a t. You got it all: the scenery, the wine, the food, the emotions, the script that might trigger an allergy to mozarella since it's incomprehesively cheesy. It seems that the director couldn't read anything into the serene Mediterannean scenery but mediocre, predictable love stories and family feuds, with an additional focus on food that's not about artisan approach but "about love" (we know Italians love their pasta, no need to emphasize). The plot is simple: a successful Danish chef returns to Italy to tend to his father's legacy in the form of a semi-derelict castle (sic!) and can't help himself but sneer at the local approach to food. Eventually he makes friends with locals, falling in love while reconnecting with his past in the process. The difference between his depressing personality and the passionate, slightly defensive approach of his ltalian love interest are predictable at best and ridiculous at worst. Just like Lane's film, this might fit the best to 24Kitchen. And it's a perfect example of what I started calling location porn: when the scenery is beautiful, an intelligent script is rather a tiresome drag than a prerogative. Too bad. If you enjoy love stories and can't afford a trip to Tuscany to indulge in the food, wine and sun, there are always films like this. That's, more often than not, all they're good for.
Review of Toscana
