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So make sure to listen, and now on to You, Me, and Tuscany.
She came for the pasta and got lost in the sauce.
That is the brilliant tagline for the zesty new rom-com You, Me, and Tuscany.
The movie stars Halle Bailey as a broke 20-something at a crossroads in life.
So she decides to fulfill a dream and fly to Tuscany on a whim.
There she meets a hot winemaker played by Regé-Jean Page.
But this is an old-school rom-com with classic rom-com machinations so, as you can probably guess, it'll take at least a three-course meal and a few vinos to get these two beautiful people together.
I'm Ayesha Harris and today we're talking about you, me and Tuscany on Pop Culture.
Happy Hour from NPR.
Joining me today is NPR producer Corey Antonio Rose.
Welcome back, Corey Antonio.
Ciao.
Ciao.
Also with us is the former host of Slate's Internet Culture Podcast ICYMI and former pop culture happy hour producer, Candice Lim.
Welcome back to you, Candice.
Hello.
Hello, hello.
Ciao, Bella.
Ciao, Bella.
All the things, all the things.
So in You, Me and Tuscany, Halle Bailey plays Anna, a young woman who's abandoned her dreams of becoming a culinary chef after the death of her mother.
Now she's a house sitter for New York's Super Rich, but the work has dried up.
She has a brief encounter with an Italian real estate bro passing through town who's named Matteo.
He's played by Lorenzo DeMoor. and he inspires her to take a big life swing and fly to Tuscany.
I'm using the ticket my mama already bought me, and I have $535 in my savings account.
$500?
Yep, it's enough.
When she gets there she remembers that Mateo owns a villa he doesn't live in because he's estranged from his family.
So, as any totally normal person would do, she tracks the place down, breaks in, makes herself at home.
The rest of the movie adds up to a very convoluted comedy of errors.
Mateo's family members discover Anna at the villa and are led to believe she's his fiancée they've never heard of.
Most of them are extremely excited because it means Mateo will finally be returning home.
And then there's cousin Michael, played by Regé-Jean Page.
He runs the family vineyard, and he is very, very ridiculously good-looking.
What could possibly go wrong?
You, Me, and Tuscany is in theaters now.
Candice, did you get lost in the sauce?
I came for the pasta, got lost in the rigatoni.
Hell yeah.
I love this movie.
I think this is a perfect movie.
I have no notes.
And I will say...
I think this movie is so playful and I felt that from the beginning of the marketing.
Fun fact, did you guys know that this was originally supposed to be called Italiana?
Sit with that.
Yes, yes.
I really do love this movie.
I think that it reminds me a lot of Marry Me.
You know the J-Lo movie with Owen Wilson, which is ironic because it's directed by the same person, Kat Coyro.
And I love how whimsical and how fantastical and how there are so many parts that are so just like delusional would never happen, especially as a woman traveling solo in Italy.
However…
I'm not mad about it.
And we could have the argument that it's because of the state of the world.
I would also make the argument like is it really that bad to have a rom-com that kind of pushes the cheese to a point where you're kind of like, and we all went home happy for the day?
I'm into it.
I'm into it.
Yeah.
I concur.
But Corey Antonio, I need to know.
Sauce, were you lost?
Oh, yeah.
This was a good old plate of shrimp Alfredo for me.
My own romantic life is in shambles right now, so I really just needed a good heavy dose of escapism.
And this film lifted my feet off the ground just high enough to have hope in the carousel of terror that is The Dating Pool.
And Halle Bailey is an actress that...
I mean, I could watch her paint a picture like Bob Ross for five hours and I would be enthralled.
But just having her in these settings with these characters, like...
Is she carrying the film in the way that The Little Mermaid, you know, was a strain on her back?
No, not quite.
But she doesn't need to because the ensemble cast is so strong.
They're so easy to fall in love with.
And, at the end of the day, you don't end up caring about the central romance as much as you do, this family coming together and her finding this place of belonging, which I thought was just so heartwarming.
Like, wow, I needed that romance.
I need that story.
And this was a really good time for me.
I have to say, I went into it and it started off a little... I was just like, I don't know, man.
First of all, how am I watching this movie in a theater while this is not on streaming right now?
Or on a plane?
It's peacock-coated.
Yeah, and...
It feels like a throwback to circa early 2000s, mid 2000s rom-coms where you have like Gabrielle Union or someone like that.
Very think like a man coded.
Yes.
Yes, yes, yes.
It was giving me jumping the broom.
Yes, Jumping the Broom.
I remember that movie with Paul Patton.
That also had a little racial diversity going on in it.
It did.
It did.
I saw Jumping the Broom in theaters.
I remember that.
That was also very fun.
Oh, wow.
Aisha, you were there for the writing of history.
Yeah.
And maybe it's just the state of the world, but I was not in the mood at first.
And then, as the movie progressed, I just kind of gave into it and was like okay yeah, I'm along for this ride.
This is sweet.
Does she have like a fairy godfather sort of here who's played by Marco Calvani?
Oh.
He plays Lorenzo in this film.
Who's like this very enthusiastic, very hyper guy cab driver who basically becomes her chauffeur?
Yeah, with like.
Does she pay him?
I don't know they talk about a price, but I, the first 30 euros was the payment and then after that he was along for the plot.
He was along for the plot invested, he was invested.
I kept looking at him the whole time.
I was like, oh my goodness, why do you look familiar?
And then I realized he played Coleman Domingo's husband.
Yes, on the Four Seasons last year.
The Netflix show those Four Seasons.
I was like, oh, that's where I know you from.
He was a delight.
Claire, who's played by Aziza Scott, who is her bestie back home, who we heard in that earlier clip.
She's the other sort of You go, girl.
You do what you got to do.
But she's also kind of like the Lil Rel Howery in Get Out, where she's like, what are you doing?
You're a black woman in Italy.
Don't get murdered.
Perfect conditions for my friend to get kidnapped.
Okay, it's meant to be.
It's just one of those movies like as it progressed, I just kind of got swept away with it, just like you.
It became sort of just...
This nostalgia trip, because again, it feels so not of this time period.
Even of modern rom-coms, it feels not modern.
Don't you have a girlfriend or something?
Mr. Handsome Winemaker in Tuscany?
Most of the men here are handsome winemakers.
I mean, this movie gives the people what you want.
And what we want is to see him shirtless.
In a vineyard.
Not the rain, but in a sprinkler.
Vineyard sprinklers.
And doing so because he needs to save her edges.
Go see the movie.
You'll understand what I mean when I say that.
It's so charming.
I mean, I guess part of my hesitation while watching this was like, This wouldn't happen.
This wouldn't happen.
She's a black woman.
Would these people really embrace her in that way?
Especially in Italy where, look, there are places that have issues with race.
Italy is one of them.
I've been there.
I have not been to Tuscany, but I've been to other parts of Italy.
It's not always the most welcoming, embracing, opening place for Black people to go.
But then it kind of explains it with Regé-Jean Page's character and the fact that he's like the cousin brother.
I don't know.
I'm curious how that played for you, the racial dynamics that weren't really there but were.
I mean, on one hand, going in, I knew that from the tone of the marketing, from the tone of the ads and the trailer, this was going to be a film where there was no issue with her being this Black woman traveling alone in Italy.
And so I was down for it.
I was down for the whimsy.
I was down for the fantasy.
I love to not have to worry and not have to clench my teeth.
I also had this moment watching the film where I was like, when we saw Michael come sit down with the family for dinner, I was like, oh so they're loving on her because they are used to seeing Black people.
Right, right.
And that was helpful for me.
In this small town where everybody knows them.
It's kind of perfect, though.
Like, I don't know.
Yeah.
No, there's definitely a question here about kind of like the stakes of this film even existing.
Right.
I was thinking a lot about how director Nina Lee, like before the film came out, she went like on social media and said that basically.
She has this movie that she worked on with Coco Jones.
It's like ready to go.
It's ready to be set.
But a lot of executives allegedly were telling her we're not going to buy her movie until we see how Yumi and Tuscany goes.
That's a lot of pressure to put on Halle Bailey.
So much pressure.
But at the same time.
Yeah.
I also think this is kind of about like you know not only who gets to like make a film like this, but like how fantastical and realistic can you be like?
Is it possible to just kind of like enter a rom-com and be like this is kind of what I imagine like romantic comedies look like today.
Let's take out kind of the socioeconomic pressures that other people may feel.
And is it an escape?
Is it okay to escape?
I think there are some people who walk into this and being like, well, I wanted to see myself.
I went to testing.
This happened.
And it's like well, I think you know, sometimes it's okay to just like head off and just kind of like be in a delusional state for a little bit and then use that to kind of make the films that you really want to see.
Yeah, I love that framing of it of like asking yourself is it okay to escape?
Because I think that is subconsciously what I was thinking to myself while watching this.
Because I know for a fact that I'm often thinking about these things, even when like, it probably doesn't serve me emotionally to be doing so.
And so I love this movie.
It took me a minute to get there.
But once I got there, I was like, you know what?
It's really okay.
Yeah.
It's all right.
What I have loved, at least like a little bit more, even just like a little jokey, like there's a moment where everyone in the town it's like it's literally like little town.
It's quiet.
There's a moment where she's like walking through town and all these strangers are like Hey Anna, Hey Anna.
And she's like, How does everyone know me?
And I was expecting him to be like, well, you're the only black woman here.
Right, right.
Just something funny like that.
And instead it's just like, oh, it's a small town.
I'm like, okay.
There were opportunities, but very small, small thing.
I think also it just helps that overall it's not just the racial aspect of this movie that is completely fantastical.
It's like everything that's completely fantastical.
Yeah.
Like the fact that she is in this person's home and then they just immediately welcome her.
They have no idea who she is.
And they're estranged from Mateo.
And they're planning all this, but they're never wondering, like, well, Matteo hasn't contacted us.
The only person who's suspicious is Nona the whole time.
I loved her.
She's played by Stefania Cassini.
And Nona just always has a stank face because she's like, I don't trust this woman.
And I was like, that would be me too, Nona.
That would be me too.
And I loved those little moments.
Like, the family was just fun.
My audience was very into it.
And Candice, I think you were talking earlier, like, your audience was very into it too, right?
Oh, yeah.
But yeah, like I noticed that you know this was a press screening that I found very significant in that one.
It was definitely a more diverse audience, but also it was an older audience.
It was a lot of like older women who clearly came up in the age of the Julia Roberts rom-com and they were hooting and hollering.
And I actually thought that was interesting because it made me question like are they the target audience over me?
Because my whole thing is that, look, I have talked to a few of my friends about this.
I have friends who have apprehensions about Regé-Jean Page as an actor.
Hello.
Hi.
Corey.
Corey.
It's because they're like –
He left Bridgerton season one.
There were some hard feelings.
He tried to, you know, have a real movie career.
And this is his moment to kind of test if he has a litmus for, like, you know, the general audience.
I still love him.
Some of my friends do not.
But I thought he kind of nailed it.
And I'm still into it.
Corey, how do we feel about Reggie?
Speaking on it.
It's just like a handsome face does not chemistry make.
And I feel like there were moments that we were expected to rely on the handsome face, the charm, the six to eight pack.
And there were definitely sparks in the film.
I definitely really loved the scene where they are getting drunk off of his own wine supply and having their little date moment.
I thought that was really cute.
But when I'm watching a rom-com...
I'm looking for that first impression from a leading man.
I think I sat in this very chair when we watched one of them days and talked about how Patrick Cage and the second he walked on screen.
I was like okay yes, this is leading man.
There is chemistry, but there's gas in the tank to go somewhere.
It was a very slow start and a very slow build between Michael and Anna for me.
Yeah, I definitely see that.
I think I'm still yet to be blown away by Regé-Jean Page, but I see the potential.
I thought he was quite good in Black Bag, the Steven Soderbergh movie from last year.
He has a little bit more room to play.
You hope in these types of movies that you can get people who can transcend the material.
Because, like, we're not reinventing the wheel here.
And it's fine.
Like, there are funny moments.
There are clever moments.
There are moments where I'm just like, these Italian people know this, like, slang.
Like, here's the tea.
Okay.
I don't know about that.
There's, like, moments where it felt a little...
The issue that comes up with these things is like the rom-com material is rarely going to be on the level of like a Nora Ephron.
Like it's just hard.
We don't often get that.
And so often we do rely on the chemistry.
And Corey, I do understand that.
I do think though, like it is a slow build and eventually we do have those moments.
I'm unlucky in love.
Probably end up alone.
Always fall for the wrong girl.
I like seeing two beautiful people.
That was enough for me.
It worked.
At the end of the day.
Halle and her endless sundresses in that one duffel bag.
Look if you roll them up right.
I have traveled to Italy with just a small suitcase for like two weeks and it worked.
It works.
Also, she was doing laundry constantly.
Constantly.
Constant laundry.
Yeah.
Constant.
She had to be doing a lot of steaming and ironing of those things because they were all like linens and stuff.
You know what suspended my disbelief is the insane Aperol Spritz spawn con.
Wait, was that what it said on the glass?
Yeah.
I totally missed that.
It was like Aperol Spritz.
Oh, see, I saw the April Spritz, but I like could not make out what it said on the glass.
No, it's like a real company and they do like SponCon and label out, label out.
My question is, where did Homegirl find grits in Italy?
Like, do they have that?
I mean... I mean, I guess maybe they have polenta.
That's a version of grits, but it's just...
Maybe she traveled with it.
With all her sundresses and that one little bag.
You know, just to add some weight to it.
I want to ask y'all obviously, with rom-coms we don't need like the Oscar winning deep Stanislavski acting.
Sure.
But how did y'all walk away thinking about Halle's acting performance in this film?
I did talk to some people in the audience who were like oh, she's pulling the Disney bag strings tonight.
Yes.
A.K.A. she's bringing a lot of the Little Mermaid.
Like highfalutin voice and just very kind of like everything's so magical.
I totally see it and I totally get it.
And we can definitely have the conversation about whether Halle should be in movies or in the recording studio.
Yeah.
But it kind of didn't phase me for some reason.
Like I was okay with it.
And I think it's just because I'm like – I'll be honest.
I was always more Halle than Chloe.
So that's number one.
But number two is just kind of like in a weird way – this is horrible –
I do find this to be the intersection between people who watch like Tyler Perry movies with their grandma and people who love the Little Mermaid reboot.
I'm so sorry.
I'm so sorry.
I can totally see that.
And again, this is that sort of like fantasy that I think a lot of a certain type of black filmmaking world like Will Packer there's been sort of like in the last few years, some movies and TV shows, especially I think of like something like Harlem, Where it's kind of like a reboot of like girlfriends, sex in the city, like that kind of era.
Single women or women who are dating men who are no good for them.
But living these very, they are of a certain class.
And it's very like fantasy coded.
And I think you can absolutely let yourself escape.
But, as people listening to this conversation can also understand, you can still have some minor critiques or questions about you know how that escapism plays out.
And to answer your question, Corey, about, you know, Halle Bailey as a performer.
Again, I think the two of them, her and Regé-Jean Page.
Like there is, there's a lot of charm that we're coasting on.
And I don't mean that as shade.
And I think that's like partially perhaps, acting abilities, but also just like again, this is not Shakespeare.
This is not the material is not.
There's only so much you can do with that.
So that's all I'll say about that.
Yeah, I mean there's something there about her playing in the Disney bag, because I was like there are moments in this film that are really resonating with me.
I really understand how destabilizing it can be to lose a parent in your 20s.
And I thought that was something that she really tapped into.
But that is also squarely within Disney princess territory.
Yeah.
Now the despair and desperation of being flat out broke in another country, with no prospects, nowhere to sleep, no nothing.
I didn't get that from her.
And that's not within Disney princess territory, even more so.
I did have a moment where I was like oh, this is kind of pulling from to speak of Disney, it's kind of pulling from Princess and the Frog because like, part of that motivation in that movie of Tiana is that her father has passed and she's like trying to open this restaurant and she's like basically like
They're both chefs or wannabe chefs.
Like, you can see it.
You can definitely see it.
And I'd be curious to see how Halle is able to maybe eventually transition.
She's got time to, like, figure it out.
She still looks extremely young.
So, in fact, sometimes...
Maybe too young for Regé-Jean Page, who is 12 years her senior.
I agree.
There's a lot of makeup in them sunny scenes in the vineyard.
I will say this movie looks beautiful.
It is gorgeous.
This is a movie that if you just let yourself go, you will get lost in the sauce.
I think we all did.
Try and go see it in a theater.
I was skeptical about it, but like it was kind of fun to hear other people's reactions to it.
But also it feels like a perfect plane movie.
It feels like a perfect like at home, cozied up in a blanket, with preferably Italian wine and some like cheese.
So much fun.
It was a fun little escape.
And up next, we're going to be talking about what's making us happy this week.
Can't wait for that.
And now it's time for our favorite segment of this week.
And every week, what's making us happy?
Candice.
Tell us, what is making you happy this week?
I'm very excited about this one.
What's making me happy is a new show called Love Overboard.
Have either of you guys heard about this?
No, I have not.
I have heard about it, but tell me more because I don't know much about it.
Aisha, you are going to love this.
So Love Overboard is a reality dating show where a bunch of singles spend the summer on a yacht in Malta.
And it starts off a little Love Island-y where, like some people, they kind of group themselves into four couples and they live their best life on this yacht.
Those who are not coupled up the singles they end up getting sent downstairs to work on the yacht.
They clean they clean the toilets.
That is literally their job.
What in the upstairs downstairs is this?
Uh huh.
Yes, and it becomes full below deck and the whole goal of the game is to go from a downstairs person to an upstairs person.
And the way to get upstairs is you have to homewreck one of the couples.
You have to break one of them up, replace them, and then the person who ends up getting booted out has to walk a plank and basically get thrown into the ocean.
And...
Talk about metaphors for the way our entire society treats single people.
But OK.
Exactly.
Go on.
And I think this show actually does something very interesting, where the rule is that you know, let's say, you are a downstairs person.
You fall in love with another downstairs person.
You cannot go up simultaneously.
However, you can plot and scheme to break up two separate couples.
And, like, bring the other person up.
And I think this show is just about how quickly class mobility can really change you and like shift within you.
Like you know, one day you're cleaning the deck and then on day two you're ordering Aperol spritzes.
And how quickly you can like, get there.
This show is hosted by Gabby Windy.
She does a very good job at just being, like.
Gabby Windy of Traders fame.
Well, that's how I know her.
Yes.
Yeah, and she does a very good job of being like sarcastic and biting and she makes fun of the guys and I love it.
And so then, yeah, I'm going to recommend Love Overboard on Hulu.
Oh, my goodness.
Okay.
First of all, I think every reality dating show is about class and race and all these other things.
Yes.
I'm probably going to check this out.
Okay.
Thank you, Candice.
I'm so embarrassed to say it.
You're going to love it, Aisha.
I really mean it.
I really mean it.
Thank you, Candice.
Corey, what is making you happy this week?
What's making me happy is this week's Broadway debut of Cats the Jellicle Ball.
Cats has been revived through the lens of the ballroom scene in New York City.
And it is just a hoot and a holler.
I saw this production when it was off Broadway.
It was an astounding time.
You know, the running joke about Cats for decades has been, nobody knows what it's about.
Doesn't make sense.
Boring.
La la la la la.
These people took that story and really embodied it and grounded it in something real, something tangible.
And there's just something so magical about like the theatricality of ballroom and being in that space and being able to see that on the stage translated.
It feels right.
It feels good to my soul to see just old circles come back again.
Like, it feels very Sankofa coded.
I love it.
And, you know, it's a lovely collaboration between Broadway veterans and ballroom veterans.
And I think it's where art should be going.
I love it.
And if you can't go see the show, then go look at some voguing clip on YouTube.
Check out the icon Yolanda.
That's my recommendation.
All right.
So that's Cats, the Jellicle Ball on Broadway.
I'm hoping to get to see that when I'm in New York next.
I do not like cats.
I absolutely despise it, but I will absolutely take a reimagining of it that makes it actually fun.
So thank you for that recommendation, Corey.
What is making me happy this week is that Robin is back.
She is finally back.
Robin just dropped, well, recently dropped a new album called Sexistential.
And it's her first album in eight years.
And she has not lost her edge.
She is still weird.
She is still quirky.
She has a sense of humor.
But this time she's a mom.
She's doing these house and dance club bangers.
But they're also about like being on Raya while on IVF and having like hormonal rants on Instagram and scrolling while breastfeeding.
Like right now, though, my favorite song is Talk to Me.
I love it.
And I love the fact that she can still be playful and fun.
So Robin's album, Sex Essential, definitely give it a listen.
There's nothing like a Robin BPM.
There's nothing like a Robin BPM.
I know.
I know.
So that is what's making me happy this week.
And that brings us to the end of our show.
Corey Antonio Rose, Candice Lim.
Thanks so much for being here.
Ciao, Bella.
Buenas noches.
Thank you.
Till the next.
This episode was produced by Liz Metzger, Hafsa Fathima and Mike Katziff and edited by our showrunner, Jessica Reedy.
Hello, Come In provides our theme music.
Thanks for listening to Pop Culture Happy Hour from NPR.
If you're not already following the show, do that now. right now.
I'm Ayesha Harris and we'll see you all next week.
