Up at the Villa

There's something slightly off-putting about a pre-World War II drama in which we find ourselves rooting for the heroine to marry a solidly placed but terminally dull British diplomat. We're supposed to yearn for her to run off with the adventurous and much younger American.

But, then, the chemistry is a bit off throughout "Up at the Villa," a moderately engaging big-screen adaptation of W. Somerset Maugham's 1941 novella.

Set in a villa outside Florence, the movie introduces us to a cast of British expatriates who are trying to cope with the rising tide of fascism. Among them is Mary Panton (Kristin Scott Thomas), a widow accustomed to living well but lacking a ready source of income. She relies on the generosity of friends in the monied class.

At the outset, Sir Edgar Swift (James Fox), a career diplomat, proposes to Mary. His straightforward proposition has all the romance of a bill of lading, but it's the late '30s and women couldn't always find ways to support themselves in the style to which they had become acclimated.

Mary, whose first husband was a drunk and a gambler, is ready to accept Sir Edgar's proposal when she finds herself in the middle of turbulent circumstances. She's introduced to Rowley Flint (Sean Penn), an American with a sense of style and little regard for his loveless marriage or absentee wife. He advises Mary to marry for love.

Ironically, it's not Rowley who arouses Mary's tender emotions but an Austrian refugee (Jeremy Davis) with whom she sleeps.

Things go badly after this one-night affair, and the movie turns into a pre-war mystery with a miscast Penn adopting movie-star mannerisms. (Bogart and Gable have been suggested.) He finds himself at odds with Fascist authorities, particularly the local party head (Massimo Ghini).

Belinda Haas' screenplay tends to be plot heavy, but it generates enough intrigue to keep us watching. Director Philip Haas ("The Music of Chance" and "Angels and Insects") handles the material competently.

The performances vary wildly. If you haven't seen a lot of her lately, Anne Bancroft may seem to be acting with unusual gusto as the princess, an American who has spent many years living in Florence. But this is an unusually restrained turn for Bancroft.

Scott Thomas does well in the main role, turning in another crisply British, dry-toast piece of work. Penn, adopting a strange-sounding mid-Atlantic accent, seems slightly out of sync with the material. Penn and Thomas don't develop the right chemistry. Neither is bad; neither is at his or her best.

Some sharp dialogue and a generally involving story make Villa worth a visit, but if you look around carefully you'll have little trouble seeing cracks in its Florentine walls.

"Up at the Villa" is rated PG-13 for modest sex scenes and restrained violence. Running time: 115 minutes.