Keep The Halle Bailey Rom-Coms Coming, Please

Usually when I start a new rom-com, I giddily count down the minutes until the leads have their inevitable meet-cute. And going into the matinee of You, Me, & Tuscany — armed with my requisite breakfast of popcorn and blue Icee — I felt no different.

But then I got caught up in Halle Bailey’s turn as Anna. There’s the pep talk she gives herself in the mirror before sleeping with (and to her dismay, only sleeping with) a handsome Italian, Matteo (Lorenzo de Moor). The way she looks impossibly chic upon arriving in his hometown in Tuscany — despite a whirlwind, spur-of-the-moment travel day. And of course, how she makes instant friends with her cab driver and takes in her surroundings with bright-eyed zeal, only to realize there’s nowhere for her to stay.

I worried over her lack of accommodations like she was my close personal friend, wondering: How much does she have in her bank account, again? I was so invested in her solo Italian getaway that by the time her eventual love interest Michael (Regé-Jean Page) arrives in the deli where she’s ogling a gorgeous sandwich — and steals it out from under her — it took me by surprise. I’d almost forgotten that yes, this is a rom-com. There’s a love story to tell!

All this to say, within minutes of her rom-com debut, Bailey proved a preternatural kind of leading-lady presence — a layered affability that compels you to root for her as an individual first, independent of the swoony story ahead. That’s not a given for every rom-com, and is a particular achievement for your first. As director Kat Coiro recently told HuffPost UK of Bailey: “She has this effervescence, and this kind of natural light and kindness inside of her that lets her get away with really crazy things.”

Indeed (and spoilers ahead), Bailey’s ability to balance her character’s thorny, human foibles — putting her dreams on pause in the wake of a major loss, slipping into other people’s lives as a facade — with playful sincerity should be studied.

Running through a vineyard just to taste fresh Italian grapes? Singing Mario’s “Let Me Love You” to win back your true love after you lie to him and his entire family? In a different actor’s hands, these scenes could come across as too sweetly silly.

But while Bailey has said she wants to embrace cringe (as should we all!), that’s not what I felt when watching her find love in the Italian countryside. She makes you want to believe in these grand, put-yourself-out-there moments — making the case for a long and lucrative rom-com resume, if she wants it.