When in Rome

Wow, the reviews of this one are pretty harsh. I want to congratulate the film makers for not using profanity, sex, or violence. That in itself is refreshing and inspiring. It honors Romantic Comedies of the fifties and early sixties, which entertained without corrupting our souls.

I agree with the many reviewers who said the comedy and antics in this one were forced and didn't work, to a large extent. However, a scene in a unique restaurant was reasonably original, and one in a crowded car was somewhat cute.

Both leads were attractive and performed adequately. I don't think the roles were much of a stretch for either one, but that's o.k. They are who they are, like Doris Day and Rock Hudson were who they were. I'm sure both of these actors will do some more drama in the future.

What the film lacked was subtlety. It was so frenzied, and tried so hard to be cute, that I felt a bit edgy in my seat. I wanted to say, "Just relax and let me find out more about who these people are." Even a few more quiet scenes with heartfelt dialogue would have sufficed.

But I guess the makers were committed to a formulaic approach. The price they'll pay for that is that the movie will quickly fade from your memory. That is not necessarily such a bad thing, as it did entertain, kept clean, and left one feeling some sense of hope about love.

I prefer that to pictures that add to my cynicism.

Beth (Bell) goes to Rome to attend her sister's wedding. Afterwards, she walks in the fountain outside the church and picks up some coins in the water. Legend says that when a coin is picked up, the person who threw the coin will fall in love with the one who picked it out of the water. She picks up 4-coins and a casino chip.

This actually isn't too bad, but there were some annoying things: the singing off camera as the movie opens and more singing as we travel from NY to Rome, some sight gags really didn't work and were too commonplace (we always see the same things and are really tired of them); and some run-a-round conversations that go nowhere and are not funny as intended. The writers should key in on Seinfeld dialogues and learn from them.

But, there are some very good lines in here among the players and that is where most of the comedy is. And, …………and, yes, some sight gags did work and were funny. How about that? Figure it's about 50-50 on the sight gags.

Kristen Bell (looks a lot like Julie Bowen at times) and Josh Duhamel were very good together. Sometimes these comedies don't go anywhere because we do not care for the main characters, but here we do. We like Beth and Nick (Duhamel). Nothing was overdone by the rest of the cast and they performed well.

Don Johnson, as Beth's father, came in from time to time and it was good to see him. He needs another show like Nash Bridges or some-such or some big time movie. Something……………

So the interesting twist is that the 4-men who threw their coins in the fountain are now in the U.S. and stalk Beth to win her love. And, here goofy and silly things happen, but keep in mind, that goofy and silly things are mandatory for a Hollywood comedy. It's like a law or something.

And, Beth believes Nick - also now in the US - is the one who threw the casino chip.

So all in all, not bad. Can you figure out how the spell of the legend can be broken? Thought so. Me too.

Violence: No. Sex: No. Nudity: No. Language: No.

There's a lot of negative reviews on here about this, I'm just really glad I watched the film before reading them!! Sometimes a film asks you to suspend your disbelief. The very premise of this film is so preposterous as to not be out of place in an animated Disney film, so I find it incredible that more people didn't watch the film with that in mind. It has an excellent supporting cast, all of which hit the mark, fans of Napolean Dynamite will be delighted, and the leads are really good, Bell in particular.

Sure it's not ground breaking (rom-coms almost never are, by their nature we usually have an idea of what's coming), but it's full of fun and it's been made well, with enough substance and humour to keep you going til the end - unlike some rom-coms with much higher ratings. I would recommend checking it out if you like to lose yourself in fantasy and you're a fan of the genre

Harmless romantic comedy with a twist: A down-on-her-romantic luck American (Bell) steals some coins out of the Fountain of Love in Rome, and the men who threw those items into that fountain all fall in love with her, and pursue the bewildered girl. She's in Rome for her kid sister's wedding where she meets and quickly falls for the charming Josh Duhamel, who looks great even if he isn't given a chance to do any real acting here. When she catches him smooching with another woman, she figures she's back where she started, romance-wise, and returns to New York. Duhamel pursues her, of course, as do the four smitten men (DiVito, Shepard, Arnett and Heder). She now has to figure out how o reverse the spell. Some funny moments, nice ___location photography (as far as I could tell) and the elfin Ms. Bell make it worth a watch by the gals. And there's a nice tip of the hat to THE WIZARD OF OZ near the end. A trifle at best. Don Johnson has a small role as her dad. Anjelica Houston has an even smaller role as Bell's boss.

Honestly this is what Rom Coms are about. Romance comedy and a thread that connects the story. It met all those expectations and more. Good A list actors hitting main and cameo parts. Romance=Rome=NYC. Comedy= the entire cast. Sit back and enjoy. Enjoy the magic and the premise that there is free will when it comes to love. Kristen Bell is as entertaining as ever. Josh Duhamal does a good job as a leading man. Dax Shephard a great character actor as always. Maybe a bit too much spark with Kristen Bell. Anjelica Huston and Danny DeVito round out the cast. Why rate it less than a B+?? Can't see why some people are rating this low on the Rom Com scale.