You, Me & Tuscany

You, Me & Tuscany Review: I was entranced by the sauce

Brighton Nelson

12 Apr 2026 — 6 min read

I may have been on an island putting this in my top 5 most anticipated films of 2026, but I'm not at all ashamed. From the hilarious trailer to perhaps the world's best tagline in "she came for the pasta but got lost in the sauce", I was hooked by what was being cooked. This wasn't even the only awesome American-goes-to-Italy romance we've gotten thus far in 2026, with Solo Mio having been released only a couple of months ago! And, it wasn't the only awesome romance we've gotten this week, with the beautiful anime film ChaO being another fantastic film for us romance fans to dig our teeth into. So, is this a film that deserved to be placed in my top five of the year, or did it get lost in its own sauce? That's what I, Brighton Nelson of The Reel Ranker, will be discussing in today's review. Thanks for joining this non-spicy white boy's community today, e spero che questo articolo vi piaccia!

These running through the vineyard scenes were really cute haha.

Let's get the "bad" out of the way first. If you want some entirely fresh rom-com, this ain't the film for you. If you didn't derive that from the trailer, you've probably got bigger problems than this film will ever have. Jokes aside, I wasn't expecting anything entirely fresh here, so I wasn't disappointed. This film may be some tasty bruschetta, but it's not quite farm-fresh organic. If you didn't obsess over this film after seeing the trailer and buy a ticket the first day possible, it may not be the film for you. If you were topsy-turvy laughing, falling into diaphragmatic dysfunction, and yacking up Il Sugo del Gola as you witnessed the trailer for the first time, this'll probably be in your top ten for the year. And, if you come into the film knowing it's not breaking any new ground or anything, you'll probably find this to be a modern classic of the rom-com genre because I've got nothing else negative to say.

From the get-go, the vibes here are impeccable. Italy may be overly romanticized, sure, but under the absolute authority I gained from working in an Italian restaurant (that gives me authority, right?), I've got to say, they nailed the cozy Tuscany vibes here. While it didn't dive quite as deep into the less superficial, more authentic sides of Italia like Solo Mio was able to, this film isn't trying to be grounded in reality like that film—after all, when your film's premise is moving to Italy on 500 dollars in this Big '26 economy and faking an engagement, of course we're going to be floating around in dreamland for the film.

The story may be a lot more carefree and drama-deprived than many expected or wanted with such a premise, but I thought they nailed the balance of earnestness and dramedy here. With how the characters are developed, I felt the film's ultimate resolution of the conflict was right in line with what the film was foreshadowing. Though many have disagreed with me across the Internet, so if you like your rom-coms as messy as eating a nice deconstructed lasagna with a side of prosciutto pappardelle with only your left pinky finger, then maybe this film's light, not-overbearing sauce won't sit well with your cinephilic stomach.

For me, it was perfettissimo. The story has a fantastic pace to it, and feels far more brisk than the 10-minute shorter Solo Mio did. Though, that film's approach was a sweet-natured, mature-age romance that slowly builds, whereas this film is a spicier, theme park ride. I really enjoy both sides of the coin, and would probably prefer what Solo Mio was putting down if I were a single, middle-aged man, but as a young adult with an absurdly paced love story of my own, this was a story that, for me, "intensified the tension and tempo to take [me] beyond the traditional". Yes, I quoted the back cover of Sakaguchi's 2008 Xbox 360 masterpiece Lost Odyssey in a spaghetti rom-com. I'm not one bit ashamed.

I was gonna say Halle Bailey should be a Disney princess before remembering she has been one... let's have some more BIPOC *original* Disney princesses, please. And stop making forgettable remakes?

Speaking of the film's fast, fortissimo romance, Halle Bailey and Regé-Jean Page had awesome chemistry here. Not quite Solo Mio caliber chemistry, but great nonetheless. No, I won't stop the comparisons because I'm a schoolteacher and text-to-text methods are ingrained in my brain (sike, I'm just a music teacher who's obsessed with ranking things). But I digress. While they aren't the most interesting or developed characters of the rom-com space, they both really worked for me in the roles, and I was on the edge of my seat waiting for them to leave Matteo behind to prune in the sun like a raisining grape in a vineyard.

The romance, lead characters, setting, and story are all fine and dandy, but it's the humor and side characters that really transform this film from off-the-shelf $3.49 Prego from Albertson's into Michelin-star marinara. I was picking up what this film was putting down—every joke landed for me! From Claire's worried-best-friend tomfoolery, to the aunt that always had the most diabolical things to say; from Lorenzo's near-toxic optimism and Giuseppe's operatic cock-a-doodle-doo to the three tourists who were putting far too many off-the-wall one-liners that had me guffawing and hamboning in hilarity like mother-jechtin' Old Man McGucket, this was a trip and a half to experience in a packed theater. My fellow Black brother-in-Christ next to me looked at me like I was a deranged, depraved mental patient (à la Joker) with how much this crackhead cracker was laughing at this corny-as-crap movie... what can I say, this film knew how to make this capelli rossi have a bombastic theater experience.

The amount of beautiful dresses Halle Bailey wore in this movie was insane. Probably where most of the budget went...

The Reel Ranker Verdict

Reel or Unreel? - Reel
The Reel Ranker Score: 95%
Letter Score: S+
Star Ranking: 5 out of 5

You, Me & Tuscany may rely heavily on a tried-and-true formula, but its hysterical humor, superb supporting cast, virtuosic vibes, and preposterous premise left this film exceeding my already lofty expectations for it. It's a perfect, 10/10 modern classic in the rom-com genre and nothing less.

Interested in my reviews for other romance and comedy films? Check them out below! I'll be updating this a lot as I get to reviewing older films I've watched!