‘When in Rome’ is Occasionally Enjoyable, but Unnecessarily Busy
-----‘When in Rome’ looked bad from the start. Sporting a trailer with a few cameos from various Hollywood goofballs, it didn’t offer much to look forward to. Surprisingly enough, the two leads proved to have some solid chemistry, and even a good amount of likability. But if only the film would have let their story be told. Instead, slapstick follows with very occasional humor from the many costars, resulting in a film that would be a good rent if it weren’t so loaded with mediocrity.
-----When workaholic Beth heads out to Rome for her sister’s wedding, the last thing she’s looking for is love. Oddly enough, she meets a guy; the goofy yet charming Nick. But when things take a turn for the worse, she finds herself drunken and picking coins out of a fountain. But it’s a magical fountain. Seriously, it’s a magical fountain, and now the droppers of those coins are completely obsessed with Beth. As she returns to New York, Beth struggles to defeat the hordes of men trying to win her heart, and finds herself falling for one of the apparent victims, Nick. But does he really love her, or is it just the work of the magic fountain? And so Hollywood delivers yet another nail-biter to make Shyamalan proud.
-----The gorgeous and likable Kristen Bell plays the lead role of Beth. Bell seems at home with the character, and if it had just been about her specific relationship with Nick, I would have recommended a rent of the film. But alas, that is not the case. Playing the occasionally funny and also quite likable Nick is Josh Duhamel. Together the two have some solid chemistry, but just not enough screen time together. Playing Beth’s intermittently funny but mostly irrelevant love-struck stalkers are Will Arnett, Jon Heder, Dax Shepard, and Danny Devito. I actually like all four of those guys…though I’m iffy on Arnett. As for the other three, they’ve got some comedic talent. Here, they’re mostly just out of place, if sporadically humorous, and ultimately lacking a solid script. They’re thrown in as plot gimmicks to try mixing up the oft-seen romantic comedy dilemmas. But really, without ample screen time, they become nothing more than harried side notes, with the respective traits of Arnett being bland, Shepard being annoying, Heder being mildly entertaining, and Devito being a sweet but short (no pun intended) afterthought.
-----The script, like much of the film, is very hit-or-miss, with some slapstick gags not worthy of being called humor, and limited others earning a mild chuckle. The film is nearly saved by Bell and Duhamel’s surprising chemistry, but in all actuality they’re in about 15-20 minutes of the film together. The rest follows Bell’s dutiful quest to figure out what’s going on and solve the issue of the magical coins. The plot then turns to a somewhat sappy, if mildly sweet third act, until once more the coins try to make a resurgence as a legitimate cause for worry from the audience. We know they’re going to get together, and we don’t really care about the coins, so can we just move on?
-----Unfortunately, what could have been a saving grace in a Rome setting turns out to be another rushed gimmick. Beth travels to Rome to go to her sister’s wedding, and that’s all we really see of the place; the bulk of the story taking place in a familiar city we’ve all seen numerous times in numerous films, New York. And while ‘When in Rome’ is much like this month's ‘Leap Year’ in a number of ways, what put ‘Leap Year’ over the rent-worthy hump was its integrity in heading out to Ireland for an authentic and much more unique look; that, and the fact that we actually got to its leads in plenty of scenes together.
-----All in all I was a breath away from giving ‘When in Rome’ a rental recommendation. And honestly, those who were sold on the trailer (both of you) should be sure to put this on your Netflix list. It pretty much boils down to the film’s inability to be a memorable experience, and its continually harried pace. After a strong opening with a romantic wedding featuring the meeting of our two likable stars, the film then proceeds with a plot that no one really gets into. ‘When in Rome’ then quickly turns the attention from its leads to its costars, who in turn become nothing more than gimmicks. And while it’s nice to see the often overlooked faces of Devito and Heder onscreen again, they really have no place being in the film. My dirt-low expectations also played a role in my mild enjoyment of the film, when in reality some of it gets pretty weak, if never really boring. Ultimately, ‘When in Rome’ isn’t at all a terrible film, just a forced script that doesn’t allow the film to capitalize on its likable leads; who could have essentially turned it into a solid rent for couples and fans of the genre. And yet, if your girlfriend and/or wife want you to watch it, you can take solace in the fact that Kristen Bell is smoking hot-it’s a big screen. And that is that.
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