CTV NEWSCHANNEL: RICHARD’s MOVIE REVIEWS FOR SUNDAY APRIL 12, 2026!
I join CTV NewsChannel to talk about a modernized “Hamlet,” a reflective “Outcome” and an old-fahsioned rom com “You, Me & Tuscany.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
Posts Tagged ‘Kat Coiro’
CTV NEWSCHANNEL: RICHARD’s MOVIE REVIEWS FOR FRIDAY APRIL 10, 2026!
I join CTV NewsChannel’s Scott Hirsch to talk about a modernized “Hamlet,” a reflective “Outcome” and an old-fahsioned rom com “You, Me & Tuscany.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
YOU, ME & TUSCANY: 3 STARS. “relentlessly upbeat rom com with all that entails.”
SYNOPSIS: In “You, Me & Tuscany,” a new rom com starring Halle Bailey and Regé-Jean Page now playing in theatres, a directionless twenty-something woman crashes at an empty Italian villa and is mistaken for the owner’s fiancée.
CAST: Halle Bailey, Regé-Jean Page, Lorenzo de Moor, Isabella Ferrari, Aziza Scott, Marco Calvani, Nia Vardalos. Directed by Kat Coiro.
REVIEW: Coming hot on the heels of subversive romantic comedies like “The Drama,” “Anora,” “Materialists” and “Pillion” comes an old-school rom com that, for better and for worse, embraces the genres tropes.
“The Little Mermaid’s” Halle Bailey stars as Anna, an aimless twenty-something who gave up on her dream of becoming a chef after her mother died. When she loses her house-sitting job, and finds herself with nowhere to live, she impulsively decides to change her life after a chance encounter with Matteo (Lorenzo de Moor), handsome Italian man with a villa in sun-drenched Tuscany.
“It’s not about him,” she tells BFF Claire (Aziza Scott). “He doesn’t even live there anymore, but he told me about his big old villa just sitting there… Empty.”
Uninvited, she plans on spending one night in the empty villa, but the plan is thrown into chaos when Matteo’s mother Gabriella (Isabella Ferrari) drops by without warning. Panicked, she poses as Matteo’s fiancée.
“You can pretend to be his fiancée or you go to prison,” says cab driver Lorenzo (Marco Calvani). “Either way, it’s very romantic.”
The situation gets even more complicated when Matteo’s cousin, Michael (Regé-Jean Page) arrives. As he encourages her to rediscover her passion for food and life, romance blossoms. “You belong here,” he tells her.
Pure escapism, “You, Me & Tuscany” is a glossy return to the formulaic rom com that offers no surprises, just cheesy, sweet-natured feel-good laughs tinged with romance.
It’s comfort food that doesn’t ask much of the audience. It’s enough to sit back and watch the rom com clichés as they fly to the air.
There are both the standard rom com New York setting and loads of HGTV Tuscan lifestyle porn, a brash best friend, a meet cute, misunderstandings and appealing leads who (A SPOILER BUT ONLY IF YOU’VE NEVER SEEN A ROM COM BEFORE!) you know will eventually end up together. These movies aren’t about the destination, one glance at the movie poster on the way into the theatre will let you know how the story ends, they are about the journey.
The key element is the cast and here both leads, Halle Bailey and Regé-Jean Page, exude enough warmth and charm to keep things interesting despite the familiarity of the story. They’re the story’s heart and are surrounded by a cast of wacky characters
The beauty of “You, Me & Tuscany” is that it is, loudly and proudly, a slick and frothy, relentlessly upbeat rom com with all that entails. It’s a story of forgiveness, family, and food for fans of the genre. All others needn’t apply.
MARRY ME: 3 ½ STARS. “so light and frothy it threatens to float away.”
If falling in love was simple, there’d be no need for romantic comedies. Relationships are complicated, and rom coms can teach us the importance of confessing love to someone who’s about to board a plane or train, how burning hatred can morph into red hot passion and how to make out in the rain.
All are valuable lessons for the romantically challenged. Thanks to lovey-dovey pioneers like Drew Barrymore, Kathryn Heigl and Jennifer Lopez, the movies taught us how to hurdle any romantic roadblock.
Lopez returns with more life and love lessons after a twelve-year rom com sabbatical in “Marry Me,” a musical riff on “Notting Hill,” in theatres just in time for Valentine’s Day.
Lopez plays her fictionalized doppelgänger, a pop superstar named Kat Valdez. She’s a chart topper, a fashion plate, a staple on social media and advertising campaigns.
In other words, she’s Jennifer Lopez, except that everyone calls her Kat.
Kat is engaged to singer Bastian (Maluma), because who is one pop star supposed to marry except another pop star? Their nuptials will happen on-stage and on-line in front of an estimated 20 million people. Seconds before they are to sing their new hit single “Marry Me” and exchange “I dos,” Kat discovers Bastian has been having an affair with her assistant.
Cue the tearful, mascara smearing speech about true love and living the “truth behind the headlines.” The wedding is off. Or is it? In the audience is Charlie (Owen Wilson), single father and math teacher. He’s a fish out of water who doesn’t know Kat’s music and is only there because his co-worker Parker (a wisecracking Sarah Silverman) had extra tickets for him and his daughter (Chloe Coleman).
From the stage Kat notices the square-peg Charlie because he’s holding a giant sign Parker brought along that reads “Marry Me.” In what could be the ultimate “meet cute” in rom com history, she takes the message literally, invites Charlie to the stage and before you can say “Holy Publicity Stunt Batman!” they are pronounced husband and wife.
“I was impulsive. Without a plan,” Kat later says at a press conference. “But look where my plans got me.”
You know the rest.
Rom coms are not about the destination, they are all about the journey, the happily ever after and “Marry Me” is a good ride. It would be easy to see this as a cynical package of story and product placement for the soundtrack album, but there is nothing cynical about the movie. Lopez embraces the form, especially the fantasy, 21st century fairy tale aspect, to create a romance so light and frothy it threatens to float away into the clouds. It’s an old school rom com that works because of the chemistry between Lopez and Wilson. The spark between them and the sheer weight of the silly premise keeps the movie earthbound.
“Marry Me” works because it understands what it is, an old-fashioned rom com with a 21st century gloss. It’s a fashion show with a few laughs. An issue of “Architectural Digest” style life-style porn with romance and a musical with love lessons about not judging a book by its cover, of female empowerment and the grand gesture of renting out the entirety of Coney Island for a birthday celebration. As Parker says, “This is the most unbelievable thing that could happen in life,” but this isn’t life, it’s a rom com.
