Movie Review: When In Rome

When in Rome, do what the Romans do, such as; not stealing coins from a magical fountain

It's February, and we all know what that means. Well Superbowl already passed so not that, and no not the Oscars, nor President's Day. What i'm talking about is Valentines Day, a charming holiday where we show our appreciation towards are loved ones with mass produced consumer goods.. not that i'm complaining though (Fun-Dip Valentines are the bomb). With this being our first review of the month, I felt that it was only appropriate that I watch a romance movie. Truth be told though, I am not a fan of the romance genre, but knowing I needed to review something, I looked to my past. One movie that stuck out to me was When In Rome, for some reason I used to be obsessed with this film, watching it almost daily when I was a kid with a very early version of Netflix (Remember Netflix on Wii that came with the little disc? Ah yeah, good times). Anyway When in Rome is a 2010 rom-com about a young curator working at a art museum in New York City because of course. While in Rome for her younger sister's wedding she goes to The Fountain of Love and steals five coins from it. What happens then is that those five coins correspond to a man who had wished for love, and now are under a love curse in which they all fall heads over heels for her. How will our protagonist deal with this wacky situation? Is this movie even good, or did little me have shit taste in movie (Then again I probably still have shit taste in movies since I enjoyed Rise of Skywalker)?

The movie starts us off introducing us to our main girl, Beth. Beth is working at a fancy art museum in New York City as one of the curators.Beth is assigned to insure that their next charity gala goes off without a hitch. However she is told by her younger sister that she is getting married in Rome in a couple days. Beth is allowed to go, and the wedding goes smoothly. Except for when she had to break a vase for good luck, the vase just wouldn't break at all. She then meets her sister's husband's friend from college, Nick. Nick, and Beth seem to really get along. However, she later sees him kissing another girl. After getting drunk after a few sips she climbs into the famous Fountain of Love where she proceeds to steal five coins from it. The next day she is back home, and odd things begin to happen around her. Personally I would've ordered a restraining order against all these men if it were me, but we're in rom-com world where being creepy is perfectly acceptable, and there are zero consequences. To be honest though, the men who chase after her are some of the more funny characters in the movie such as; a Italian artist obsessed with her feet (I'm going to try my hardest not to make any Tarantino jokes), an angsty looking street magician, literally Danny DeVito, and a obnoxious model. Oh wait, who is the fifth guy? Well that will be a surprise. When returning back to work she finds out the centerpiece for her event won't be arriving, she also finds out from her sister about the curse. The men wished for love, and she essentially stole their love, seems legit. Luckily one of her problems are solved when Nick offers a photograph of himself that was done by a famous photographer of after he was struck by lighting at a football game. Despite the love spell she goes out with Nick, though at this time she doesn't suspect that he's cursed. 

Beth agrees to go on a date with Nick one night to a dark dining experience in which they eat their food in a pitch black room. As suspected this leads to quite the wacky scenario. All the men suddenly show up there, and have night vision goggles on allowing them to harass Beth, and Nick. Beth escapes from the restaurant, and Nick follows, being a gentleman (tips fedora) he offers her to take her anywhere where she would feel safe. The two then go to the art museum she works at. Beth talks about her life, and other stuff, to be honest I don't really remember, it was pretty forgettable. They then make out in front of a painting. Going back to his apartment she comes across the realization that one of the coins, a poker chip, belongs to Nick meaning that their relationship isn't real. She leaves, and becomes sad because she really does love him. Now the day of the gala, Beth's sister calls her, and tells her that she can break the spell by returning each coin to their rightful owner. However, Beth's friend stole the coins because she wants Beth to be adored, even if their love isn't real. To make matters worse there is a extreme electrical storm going on at the moment that is causing huge traffic delays. The men then show up to her apartment, and she explains the situation to them, and confesses that she loves Nick. Danny DeVito decides that if they really love her, they will help her any way they can. Luckily the Italian painter has a tiny car they can use to get to the gala. Thanks to their help she makes it in time, and the event goes well. She also gets the coins back from her friend, and returns them to the men. First the magician revealing that he had wished for a muse as before he was to shy to preform in public. Next is Danny DeVito who wished for someone that could make him feel the same way that his wife had made him feel. The Italian guy... is actually a shoe retailer from New Jersey, and is a aspiring artist, Beth reassures him that his art is great. Finally the model guy, he confesses that he didn't learn any lesson in all of this. Now to return Nick's chip. 

Unfortunately she drops the chip, and it begins rolling all the way down to the first floor. Beth chases after it only for the chip to land at Nick's feet. Turns out he had ran over there despite the storm because he loves her, even after picking up the chip meaning that his love is real. We then do a time skip to later, they never specify how long, but now Beth, and Nick are engaged, and getting married in Rome in the exact same venue as her sister's wedding. Funny enough all the men who had been under her spell have been invited to the wedding, implying that they all became friends. However, something is off as the magician goes up Beth while she is getting ready, and reveals that he accidentally gave her the wrong chip meaning that Nick might still be under the spell. Not wanting to take advantage of Nick she flees at the altar, and yells at the fountain. Nick shortly catches up, and takes the chip from her tossing it into the fountain, breaking the spell. Although the thing is, Nick is still in love with Beth meaning that their love for each other had always been real. That's sweet, and all, but in that case whose was it? Turns out it was the pastor, kind of obvious though as when he is doing the ceremony he specifically replaces "Lawful" with "Awful", also he went on for a bit when asking if anyone had anything to say. Beth realizes that she should've known as apparently the night before her sister's wedding Nick played poker with the pastor who cleaned him out of all his chips. The two then make out, and during the credits they have a dance party. Well I hoped you learned a lesson from this, don't steal coins from a magical fountain... or well don't steal coins from any fountain. That's kinda a dick move man.

When In Rome is just how I remember it, harmless, cheesy fun. By no means is it a good movie, but maybe this Valentines Day this is something you can play in the background while you, and your significant other cuddle up. Who knows maybe you'll get a chuckle out of it as well, a few parts sure made me laugh. This rom-com earns a very humble scoring of 2 Paws out of 5.