I guess it could have been worse. It could have been Leap Year. No matter, When In Rome is just another installment in the continuing lackluster series of romantic comedies that haunt the early year release schedule. As much as studios spend on script doctors for their more serious fare, wouldn’t it make sense to bring in someone with even the smallest level of life experience to say this just won’t cut it?
This isn’t to say I am asking for an overwhelming amount of logic from a film built on the idea stealing coins tossed into a fountain in Rome would cause the owners of said coins to fall in love with whomever took them. Such is the case here as Kristen Bell plays Beth, a New Yorker addicted to her work as a curator at the Guggenheim, who’s in Rome for 48 hours for her sister’s wedding. Lacking faith in love she decides to defy the magical fountain in an attempt to “save” those wishing for love the trouble.
Her theory here is she is saving them from the empty hope there is such a thing as love, but of course it turns out that’s exactly what “they” find. Only “they” fall head over heels in love with her and “they” are a sausage magnate (Danny DeVito), a street magician (Jon Heder), an aspiring artist (Will Arnett) and a self-admiring model (Dax Shepard). Oh, the madcap hilarity that is likely to follow has me tingling with anticipation.
We all agree we know where this is all going to go, and such is the case in pretty much every single rom-com out there. But that’s not why we watch romantic comedies, we watch them despite their genre trappings because they have potential to be fun, lighthearted escapism and every now and again one truly works. Such is not the case here and there is no one to blame but the series of individuals that greenlit this project as it was doomed at the script stage and should have never made it into the hands of any of the actors involved — although director Mark Steven Johnson (Ghost Rider and Daredevil) is proving this is exactly the kind of script he should be reading.
So as the sausage man, the model, magician and artist stumble over themselves in an attempt to win Beth’s love (because that’s exactly what women are looking for), Josh Duhamel playing an ESPN sportswriter is the fifth finger in this hand of doom aiming for Beth’s affection. Bell and Duhamel are fine as an onscreen couple, but despite the magical storyline Bell abandons all logic and common human intelligence as what appears to be only an attempt to keep the film’s runtime from falling short of 90 minutes. Misunderstandings are common place in romantic comedies, they are what keeps them going, but there is no misunderstanding in When In Rome, there’s just plain and simple ignorance.
Admittedly, When In Rome does have a couple of chuckles thanks to Heder’s attempts at magic, as well as a spirited turn from “Saturday Night Live” performer Bobby Moynihan as Duhamel’s friend and co-worker Puck. Most impressive, however, is Don Johnson as Beth’s father who appears to have simply taken a role that allowed him a paid vacation in Italy. I mean, who could blame a guy for taking that gig?
Overall, this film is just one misstep after another. Everyone involved was obviously in it for the paycheck, other than Moynihan who proved he may be able to add something to a feature comedy as he’s the only one worth really giving any kudos here. Everyone else should just be ashamed they were paid obscene amounts of money to churn out this trash and donate their unearned money to those who truly need and deserve it.
