My Review: When In Rome (7/10)

¨This is what the Romans call the fontana de amore: if you throw in a coin, you find love. So maybe if I take a few like you, you, you, and you, some of the magic will rub on me ¨

(7/10) Director Mark Steven Johnson decided to leave superhero movies (Daredevil and Ghost Rider) behind him and move on to the romantic comedy category with his latest film When in Rome. David Diamond and David Weissman (Old Dogs and Evolution) teamed up once again to write the script for this film, which wasn`t very memorable, but it did have its moments thanks to some good performances from an interesting cast. When in Rome has a very predictable beginning, but once the plot began to thicken I found myself laughing throughout the movie. I really went into this movie expecting to dislike it because most romcoms are very similar and generic, but I was surprised when halfway through I was smiling and actually rooting for the main characters. What I enjoyed the most was that the movie itself seemed to be making fun of other films in its genre by introducing the legend of the fountain of love and all these strange characters that seemed to be taken out from other romcoms. The movie felt much more like a satire on love and you knew you had to take the whole thing more lightly. The two main characters probably didn`t have much chemistry between them, but the movie focuses more on the laughs and awkward situations than on the love plot. When in Rome is so full of ridiculous situations that I felt it worked as a satire on romantic comedies more than an actual one in itself (although at the end of the film you have your typical romcom finale). I found myself laughing halfway through the film up to the very end at all the ridiculous characters and absurd situations that present themselves.

Beth (Kristen Bell known for her TV roles in Veronica Mars and Heroes) is a young woman who hasn`t had any luck with love, but who has a very successful career and loves her job. She has a relationship with her work and doesn`t believe there is anyone out there for her. Her younger sister, Joan (Alexis Dziena), however has seemed to have found the love of her life in a trip to Rome and is getting married. Beth has to travel to Rome for the surprisingly quick wedding and here she meets Nick (Josh Duhamel from Transformers and Win a Date with Tad Hamilton), the best man. They seem to hit it on from the beginning, but Beth sees another woman kiss him during the wedding and ends up disappointed once again. She gets drunk, ends up getting into a fountain of love, and decides to take a few coins in order for some of the love to rub off her. The legend is true and the people from whom the coins belonged too magically fall in love with Beth and begin to stalk her. Among them there is a painter named Antonio (Will Arnet), a successful sausage business man (played by Danny DeVito), a street magician resembling Chris Angel named Lance (Jon Heder from Napoleon Dynamite and yes Pedro has a small cameo as well), and a egocentric male model named Gale (Dax Shepard). Beth really can`t handle all these strange characters that have showed up in her life and realizes that the reason for all this mess are the coins she picked up in the fountain. She even begins to doubt that Nick is interested in her in real life and that he is also under the spell of the legend of the fontana de amore. Now she will have to figure out how to undo what she has done and try to discover if there really is such a thing as true love.

Kristen Bell and Josh Duhamel are both very likeable actors and they do a decent job with the script although I can`t say I felt much chemistry between them (however I did end up rooting for them to be together). But the true success of the film relies on the secondary characters who really steal all the laughs. Jon Heder, Danny DeVito, Dax Shepard, and Will Arnet are all extremely funny and they have a chance to play very eccentric characters, which is what they do best. They seem to be taken from different other types of romcom films and put together into this one to serve as a satire on this genre. The movie never takes the romance too serious and that is why it feels so light and gets away with being predictable and corny. There are several laugh out loud and enjoyable moments, but you have to get through the awful beginning and wait until these characters show up to save the film. I recommend this movie, although I was almost certain I wouldn`t because my expectations were really low, but the movie really took me by surprise and made me laugh more than I expected. Yes, When in Rome is very predictable and it probably won`t end up being a very memorable film, but it really was entertaining and funny nonetheless and is worth the watch.