Under the Tuscan Sun

Frances Mayes, a 35-year-old San Francisco professor and writer, is reeling from a painful divorce when she heads to Tuscany for a restorative break. On a whim she buys a crumbling villa in Cortona, hoping a change of scenery will mend her. As she tackles dust, creaks, and vines, she discovers friendships with the town's colorful residents and a flirtatious blossoming romance with a local painter named Marcello. The renovation becomes a catalyst for personal growth, forcing her to confront old assumptions about love, happiness, and what home really means. The film blends humor with warmth as a new life takes shape. She grows to value the slow pace of village life and the simple rituals of shared meals together.

Directed by Audrey Wells, the film adapts Frances Mayes's memoir Under the Tuscan Sun and brings Cortona to life on screen through sunlit streets, lively kitchens, and patient locals. It treats travel as a catalyst for renewal and a celebration of simple pleasures.

With a budget of 18 million, the film earned about 58.9 million worldwide, illustrating solid audience appeal beyond readers of Mayes's book and benefitting from Lane's steady, inviting performance that made the Tuscan setting feel welcoming. It marked Diane Lane's memorable presence in a film that balanced romance with humor.

The film helped spark broad fascination with Tuscan life and villa living, fueling a wave of travel and home renovation stories. It reinforced Cortona as a dreamy destination in pop culture and left audiences with a lingering image of sunlit courtyards, lemon trees, and new beginnings.

Critics offered mixed assessments, praising Lane's warmth and the film's breezy humor while noting familiar romance tropes. Some pointed to pacing or melodrama, but many enjoyed the sense of community in Cortona and the message that healing is possible through new ties and personal action.