When In Rome [PG]

Beth Harper has had her share of bad romances, but this one is going to blow all others out of the water. After fishing out four coins from the legendary fountain of love in Italy, Beth suddenly finds herself being wooed by several different men who claim to love her. All Beth wants to do is break this spell, but one of the guys happens to be someone that she really likes. Can she return all their love and still get her happy ending?

I kept passing this title on the new release wall at work and finally decided what the hell. I pulled it out decided that tonight would be a night of wine and chick flicks. Hells yeah! When In Rome had everything in its favour. It was filled with famous faces, loveable and eccentric characters, an eclectic soundtrack, a cute and clever script, and slapstick humour. It was 87 minutes of fun.

Beth Harper is a woman who has had a fair share of bad romances and, as a result, avoids coming into contact with love. When her younger sister gets engaged, Beth is amazed to find herself in Rome for a wedding as the maid of honour. Whilst under the influence of a little too much champagne, Beth finds herself wading through the legendary fountain of love picking up coins. When she returns home from Rome, Beth is startled to find herself being followed and wooed by several suitors who claim to love her. After a morning of running away from a number of these suitors’ advances, Beth is told by her sister that there is a legend that if you pluck a coin out of the fountain of love, the person who tossed that coin will fall in love with you. Now Beth has to return these coins to their rightful owners, thereby returning their love. However one of the guys is someone that Beth loves. Can she return their love and still have her happily ever after?

This was quite a surprising little romantic comedy. I was sort of expecting it to be rather ordinary like The Proposal or something like that, but it was actually quite good. I laughed, I sighed, I swooned, and everything in between. Now, I simply have to draw attention to the use of slapstick in this movie. Not since the days of Fawlty Towers have I seen such wonderful use of physical comedy. There are people walking into poles, bashing into trees, falling down cellars, and getting hit by cars. Priceless. Kristen Bell is Beth and she was adorable. Feisty, quick-witted, persistent, and stylish. Wether she’s drunkenly picking up coins from the bottom of a fountain or running away from admirers, she maintains an elegance and stylishness throughout the whole film. A visual treat. Desperately chasing after Kristen is an interesting mix of actors including Danny DeVito, Angelica Houston, Josh Duhamel, Jon Heder, Will Arnett, and Dax Shepard. At this point, I simply have to mention the wonderful characters that make up the group of Beth’s suitors. We have a much older sausage-making gentleman, an artist, a model, the most perfect guy ever, and a magician. How can you not like that!? Positively filled with heaps of slapstick, romance, screaming, and swooning , When In Rome was a very fun and enjoyable romantic comedy that had me giggling the entire way through. Quite short and very light, it’s a nice and fun little movie, perfect for a girly afternoon with a glass of wine and a bowl of cookies and cream ice cream.