When in Rome (2010)

Beth is a young, ambitious New Yorker who is completely unlucky in love. However, on a whirlwind trip to Rome, she impulsively steals some coins from a reputed fountain of love, and is then aggressively pursued by a band of suitors.

Director:

Mark Steven Johnson

Writers:

David Diamond, David Weissman

Stars:

Kristen Bell, Josh Duhamel, Anjelica Huston

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Kristen Bell	...	Beth
Josh Duhamel	...	Nick Beamon
Anjelica Huston	...	Celeste
Will Arnett	...	Antonio Donatella
Jon Heder	...	Lance
Dax Shepard	...	Gale
Alexis Dziena	...	Joan Martin
Kate Micucci	...	Stacy
Peggy Lipton	...	Priscilla Martin
Luca Calvani	...	Umberto
Danny DeVito	...	Al Russo
Keir O'Donnell	...	Father Dino
Bobby Moynihan	...	Puck
Kristen Schaal	...	Ilona
Judith Malina	...	Umberto's Grandma

Storyline

Beth is a hard working career woman whose last relationship says that she puts her work above him so he left her. When he tells her he found another career woman and is willing to stick it out with her and is engaged to her. Beth feels that there is no one for her. And when she goes to Rome to attend her sister's impromptu wedding and after meeting the best man, Nick she's attracted to him but after seeing him with another woman, she gets drunk and goes into the famed Fountain of Love and takes some coins thrown by people looking for love. When she goes back to New York four men start coming onto her. And Nick keeps calling her asking her out. She later learns that what she did--is a no no. It seems legend says that if you take a coins out of the fountain the person who threw it will fall in love with who took the coin. So she has to find a way to break the curse. And she wonders if Nick whom she likes is with her cause he wants to or is he under the spell.

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Plot Keywords:

coin | fountain | fountain of love | spell | wedding | 

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Taglines:

All is fair in love and Rome.

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for some suggestive content

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English Italian

Release Date:

29 January 2010 (USA)

Also Known As:

La fuente del amor

Filming Locations:

Central Park West & W 76th St, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

£61,512 (UK) (25 June 2010)

Gross:

£61,512 (UK) (25 June 2010)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Touchstone Pictures, Krasnoff Foster Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In the last movie with Jon Heder and Efren Ramirez (Napoleon Dynamite), the song "The Promise" was featured prominently. That song was performed by the band "When in Rome."

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Goofs

During the cab ride scene when Beth just arrived, the footage can be obviously seen sped up as the pedestrian on the left side of the screen is seen walking 3x then slowed down to 2x as the cab passed by.

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Quotes

Nick: [Repeated line] I did not see that coming.

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Crazy Credits

The cast is shown dancing as the credits roll.

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Connections

Featured in Richard Roeper & the Movies: Report Card: First Quarter of 2010 (2010)

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Soundtracks

"Donna Molto Bella"
Written by Joel Wachbrit and Richard Levinson
Performed by Craig Stull
Courtesy of Black Toast Music LLC

User Reviews

When in Boredom

*1/2 out of (****)

"When in Rome" actually looked pretty decent judging by its advertisements and the cast wasn't too shabby either. I thought I'd leave my brain at the door and enjoy the film for its silly, nonsensical ride. It turns out that When in Rome is every bit as typical, dry, and unfunny as every romantic comedy you've seen. Even when the film has its moments, which are very minimal, the energy that was once there, had been drained out. The problem isn't that the film is formulaic and predictable, because that's what we've come to expect. The problem is that this film has no energy and basically no backbone. But the main issue is its script. The jokes couldn't feel more forced, empty, and missing more punch lines. For a comedy, you'll laugh maybe twice, if that. Although, here's the million dollar question: What's redeeming about this movie? It's formulaic, it's tedious, it's predictable, it's nonsensical, it's hollow, and its energy has been drained.

Stop me if you've heard this before: Beth (Bell) is a workaholic, which basically corrupts her chances of finding that perfect man. Beth goes to Italy, Rome to see her sister get married to a man and there she meets the "one", which is Nick (Duhamel). She picks up coins from the fountain and there a group of men fall in love with Beth, but there's a problem. She only loves Nick and the men keep ruining the chance of her being with the one. But another issue arises. Does Nick really love her back, or is it just because she picked up his coin from the fountain, which makes people fall in love?

When in Rome's main issue is the dialogue. Not one piece of dialogue is note-worthy, memorable, or even watchable. The dialogue is completely inane and pretty much below average. The script, is also another issue. The script is dry, as predictable as it can be, and simply just awful. On a 1 to 10 scale, 1 being the lowest, 10 being the highest, the predictability level for this one, is easily a 10. I can see every scene coming from a mile away. Did I mention it's a chore to sit through? Well at least the performances are watchable.

Overall "When in Rome" is nothing special, and in fact feels so much like every other film out there, that's it's pointless to see it. It's by-the-numbers, predictable, and disposable. There are a lot of flaws and very few redeeming qualities. I expected a mediocre film, but I also expected a fun time, which I didn't get here. Wow, what ever happen to the good romantic comedies? "When in Boredom" is a rental at best.