Diane Lane finally has a headliner -- top billing, main face on the posters, the reason to see the new movie Under the Tuscan Sun. And it's easy to say she deserves it. She began as a child actor in the '70s, and only recently earned more public recognition for her years in the business. Last year, the praise she received for Unfaithful blew the doors off the hinges, leading to an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. I'm happy for her recent success and for the chance it gave her to be the spotlighted leading lady.

So I really wanted to like Under the Tuscan Sun more than I  did. Quite frankly, it's a movie without much ambition -- not even as much as, say, Unfaithful, a film I didn't like, but at least I could see it was trying for something provocative. Tuscan Sun obviously was meant to be a different breed of movie -- the derogatory term "chick-flick" comes to mind -- and it starts off with some promise, but it plays things more and more safe as it winds down. My wish for such movies to delightfully surprise me is what usually makes the cheesier elements harder to swallow when they inevitably occur.

Guess I should have expected that Lane would be put into a mainstream crowdpleaser meant to appeal specifically to a researched demographic. But she took a chance with Unfaithful, and it paid off big. Her new movie is more likely to disappear in the background because it doesn't stand out in any way. It's a standard life-inspiring movie about taking chances to find your happiness, but it lacks flair. It has very pretty shots of Italy, but what movie about Americans visiting Italy doesn't have pretty shots of Italy? It's the kind of movie that's there to just hold certain audiences over until bigger and better things arrive, with little that's special to call its own.

It could, however, claim Diane Lane as that something special. She shows she has a lot of appeal as a leading lady -- she's funny, cute, charming, and looks consistently lovely. Her character, Frances, has many chances to break out of the mold of the movie in which she's trapped. Part of the movie takes on the wry aspect of her personality, and it's at war with the part of the movie that wants to be corny. There's a funny exchange in the movie, after Frances meets an Italian stranger who whisks her away to a beautiful coastline. He looks at her and says, "You have beautiful eyes" (as those in the audience start rolling upwards). Frances responds by laughing and saying, matter-of-factly, "you know, that's exactly what American girls think Italian men will say to them." It's funny because the character is calling out the movie's cheesy tendencies, but not for long, for the following dialogue and scenes ruin the moment. Sadly, as the movie finishes up, it's apparent which side is winning, but Lane retains Frances's sense of irony throughout most of the film, making her quite watchable.

Some of the corny elements are more egregious than others. Not so bad are most of the charming natives whom Frances gets to know and adopt as her circle of friends -- their presence in the movie is expected, and they pass well enough as the amusing side characters. One character, though, is completely overdone -- Katherine (Lindsay Duncan), the lady whose job it is to tell Frances how to view life in a non-stuffy light, and goes on to demonstrate it repeatedly. She's simply trying too hard to be a movie character (very literally, too, in one of her later scenes).

It may be kind enough to say Under the Tuscan Sun doesn't ever resort to melodrama and cheap tragic events. It's mostly watchable, pleasing in an genial way, and Lane's fans will be happy to see her carry a new movie from start to finish. It just isn't trying for special -- it feels mostly like a stepping stone for Lane, before she moves on to better A-list projects. At least I hope that's the case.

(Released by Touchstone Pictures and rated "PG-13" for sexual content and language.)

Review also posted at www.windowtothemovies.com.