*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.
