Under the Tuscan Sun

Released: 2003
Comedy, Drama
Director: Audrey Wells
Starring: Diane Lane, Raoul Bova
Running Time: 113 minutes
Rated: PG-13

The breakdown:  A recently divorced writer moves on the spur of the moment to Italy and buys a house in need of renovation.

This movie is based on the book titled, "Under the Tuscan Sun: At Home in Italy" by Frances Mayes.
The only plot from the book that's true in this movie, is that this writer did buy an old house in Italy and wanted to renovate it.  After that, the rest is fiction.

Here's the plot of the movie.
Frances, the main character is stuck, socially, after she gets a painful divorce from her cheating husband.  A couple of her friends see she is struggling and instead of taking their vacation, give her one ticket to Italy to straighten herself out and have some fun.  She's reluctant to go, but after she does, she falls in love with an old house in need of some love and renovation and buys it.

She stays in Italy discovering how hard it is to remake a house, how to cook, how to slow down and enjoy things.  She starts a romance with a young Italian man and she is renewed, full of spirit and life again.  She makes some friends, and one of her friends that gave her the ticket comes to visit her as well.  There's a lot more to the movie, but if you'd like to see it, I say, it wasn't too bad.  Kinda' a little above average, but better than most similar divorcee stories I've seen.

It gave me a few laughs.
3 out of 5 for being entertaining enough.