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When in Rome
Generally unfavorable reviews
Based on 24 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 24 votes
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Movie Info
Genre(s): Comedy | Drama | Romance
Written by:
David Diamond
David Weissman
Directed by: Mark Steven Johnson
Release Date:
Theatrical: January 29, 2010
DVD: June 15, 2010
Running Time: 85 minutes, Color
Origin: USA
Summary
RATING: PG-13 for some suggestive content
Starring Kristen Bell, Josh Duhamel, Bobby Moynihan, Will Arnett, Jon Heder, Dax Shepard, Danny DeVito, and Anjelica Huston
An ambitious young New Yorker, disillusioned with romance, takes a whirlwind trip to Rome where she defiantly plucks magic coins from a "foolish" fountain of love, inexplicably igniting the passion of an odd group of suitors: a sausage magnate, a street magician, an adoring painter and a self-admiring model. But when a charming reporter pursues her with equal zest, how will she know if his love is the real thing? (Touchstone Pictures)
Also On Metacritic
FILM: Daredevil Ghost Rider Simon Birch When in Rome
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
ReelViews James Berardinelli
It is neither deep nor intelligent, but it's not intended to be either. The saving grace of the otherwise generic product is that Bell's vivacity and Duhamel's rakish charm allow the viewer to root for them.
Read Full Review >Boxoffice Magazine Pete Hammond
Entertaining, full of laughs and, as far as chick flicks go, is a sweet, romantic trip worth taking for audiences so inclined.
Read Full Review >USA Today Claudia Puig
A little bit of charm is precisely what this movie has to offer. A small dose is better than none, but you can't help wishing there was more to go around.
Read Full Review >Salon.com Stephanie Zacharek
When in Rome may fall flat in places, but at least it hasn't had all the personality manicured out of it.
Read Full Review >Village Voice Melissa Anderson
Bell, unlike Katherine Heigl and Sandra Bullock, who executive-produced their big-screen debasements of 2009, brings enough effervescence to the film that she's able to spark believable chemistry with a usual dud like Josh Duhamel.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Joe Neumaier
Regardless of where its stars want to take it, all roads here lead to blandness and inanity.
Read Full Review >Orlando Sentinel Roger Moore
Bell, a petite, pretty blonde, may or may not have the Meg Ryan-Julia Roberts-Sandra Bullock goods. When in Rome, a leaden variation on that rom-com recipe, fails utterly to make her case.
Read Full Review >Chicago Tribune Michael Phillips
Certain scenes in When in Rome signify nothing less than the death of screen slapstick, but I’m hoping it’s one of those fake-out movie deaths where it’s not really dead, not forever.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly Adam Markovitz
Sounds mildly fun, be forwarned: When in Rome doesn't even offer that.
Read Full Review >Chicago Reader Andrea Gronvall
Josh Duhamel plays the smitten sports reporter who helps her mount her big art show, "Pain"--a fitting title, given the agony induced by this godawful comedy.
Read Full Review >The New York Times A.O. Scott
There are dull stabs at verbal wit that leave you baffled, bored or slightly grossed out.
Read Full Review >The Hollywood Reporter Stephen Farber
The latest demonstration of the impossibility of making a good movie from a bad script is provided by When in Rome, a romantic comedy approved by the previous regime at Disney.
Read Full Review >Time Richard Corliss
A picture that registers between Abysmally Awful and Mildly Mediocre. Such a one would be When in Rome, which is possible to sit through without wanting to stick darts in your eyes or frag the screen. Call it medi-awful.
Read Full Review >Boston Globe Janice Page
It winds up being predictably charmless and forgettable, even as a travelogue or iPod download.
Read Full Review >Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey
An inert comedy starring Kristen Bell as a workaholic unlucky in love, When in Rome is a rom-bomb.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Chronicle Amy Biancolli
It boasts only loose ties to the 1954 romance "Three Coins in the Fountain." And it's best not to even think of "Roman Holiday," the gold standard for hanging, and driving, and doing as Romans do. Rent that instead.
Read Full Review >The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Rick Groen
In the case of When in Rome, oh to do what the Romans used to do: Toss the bloody thing to the lions.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Michael O'Sullivan
The problem is not the credulity-stretching script. Or even that much of the movie just isn't all that funny. The problem is that it thinks it's freakin' hilarious.
Read Full Review >Time Out New York Joshua Rothkopf
Keep your coin far away from this toxic fountain of crap.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club) Tasha Robinson
It’s the kind of wretched embarrassment that may leave viewers trying to suspend the belief that they’re still sitting in the theater watching it.
Read Full Review >New York Post Lou Lumenick
Even by the extremely low standards of the genre, When in Rome gets failing marks for chemistry, credibility and even coherence.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 4.8 (out of 10) based on 24 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
James H gave it a2:
I saw this movie on a cruise ship one day when I was bored. I couldn't believe how lazy the writing was - it was more like a bad TV sitcom than a full production movie. Predictability is normal in a romantic comedy but a good one has good chemistry between the leads and is funny. This one is NOT funny - nearly all attempts at humor failed. The audience I saw it with were quiet the entire time.
Sam S gave it a10:
Why do critics always hate romantic comedies? Is it because their own lives are humorless and without love? Kristen Bell is adorable and her enjoyable personality made it worth seeing the whole movie.
Rick A gave it an8:
You know this is what movie making was like back in the day when morality was considered an important part in the making of a film. I for one have an appreciation for good clean fun and this was fun and humorous with out profanity or nudity, wow, what a surprise. I do not care much for the degradation of humanity by morally destructive movie making and that is why I find this a refreshing change. It appears that the critics that viewed this movie care only for movies that are morally disgusting or violent n their entertainment, maybe they would have liked it better if it had a lot of profane language and a lot of full frontal nudity or incest, Do not get me wrong this is no Gone With The Wind academy award winning love story, but it was cute and fun to watch purely for the entertainment value.
Beka B gave it an8:
I thought this was a great movie. it was feel good, funny, just what it is supposed to be. it's not meant to be deep or unpredictable. loved it - great escape movie. don't listen to the critics.
Zoltron K gave it a9:
I liked it. It was a good romantic-comedy and a great date movie.
Chad S gave it a4:
It isn't 1953 anymore, the year William Wyler's "Roman Holiday" hit the silver screen, when women, many of them without careers, could fly to Italy for romance and adventure. Beth(Kristen Bell), a working woman, a single woman, doesn't have the luxury of taking a two-week vacation. She's busy, in demand, but her boss reluctantly gives this curator for the Guggenheim Museum two days to attend her sister's wedding, much to the detriment of "When in Rome". At first, the film's sudden shift back to American soil jars, since the title evokes memories of Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn on a scooter, then disappoints, as the fallout from Beth's theivery at the Fountain of Love, one suspects, had a better chance of working in a romantic locale such as Rome. As it stands, the story labors under the pretense of serendipity, in which Beth's potential suitors had known that their match-made-in-heaven was waiting for them in New York. Not counting Nick(Josh Dushamel), the moviegoer has to suffer through not one, or two, but three "meet-cutes". Too bad Beth wasn't unemployed so she could ward off her spellbound admirers in a setting where their persistence for romance seems less like stalking. "When in Rome" contains scenes that remind the moviegoer of decidedly urbane movies such as "The Silence of the Lambs"(actually the bit in the restaurant is quite funny) and "Dressed to Kill", cinematic evocations that are counterproductive to the light comic tone of Italian farce which the filmmaker doesn't quite pull off.
jennysurfer gave it a10:
Perfect chick flick for a night out with the ladies!!! Loved the craziness and has a different story line then others of it's kind. Truly unique!!
