Review of When in Rome (2002) by Doctor S — 19 May 2011

Yes, I cannot deny this is purely Hollywood/Disney gloss, a romantic comedy designed to give you a warm fuzzy feeling if you can keep from throwing up first. But you know what? Once in a while Hollywood comes up with one that mostly works. There aren't many original story ideas and I rolled my eyes at the entire goofy 'magic coin' premise. But I also laughed quite a bit, much more often than most similar films manage to elicit. The key is in the characterizations, including Dax Shepard as narcissistic model Gale whose idea of a compliment is "I don't know whether to look at my own reflection or to look at you, that's how beautiful you are!" and Danny DeVito as the earnest Sausage King. Bobby Moynihan as best buddy Puck is funnier than all his SNL appearances combined, and Don Johnson appears as personable and uncreepy since...well, ever. And I'm not even counting serviceable if somewhat disappointing contributions from Will Arnett and Jon Heder.

Supporting characters are fine, but most importantly when is any romance worth watching without chemistry between the stars? So many fail with a mismatch that we don't care about ever getting together, instead wishing for slow, lingering deaths. Here we get an onscreen pair that clicks. I mean c'mon, what's not adorable about Kristen Bell? That's what Josh Duhamel agrees while projecting a rascally yet amiable personality combo punch. Even though we know there will be no surprise ending, I still enjoyed seeing them reach the finish line together.