Five Coins in the Fountain Equals Trouble!

If ever the term chick-flick applies to a film then this one wins ‘hands down’. The story centers on Beth, who has a bad track record with love. She suddenly finds herself being chased by 5 different guys who have been put under a magical spell; all of whom would love nothing more than to marry her. Beth, played by Kristen Bell, (Saving Sarah Marshall 2008) stars in her first leading role who is supposed to carry the film all the way to box office heaven. Sadly, even with a script as silly and disjointed as this one, she still can’t save it. It’s not that her performance is that bad; it’s just not very good. 

Trouble usually starts  brewing in a rom/com from the get-go if the female star isn’t captivating and in this one, the coffee pot percolates over-the-top. The film is flat and one-dimensional. The characters float in and out of scenes and aren’t really funny or engaging. The male co-star is Josh Duhamel (Fergie’s husband and the guy who worked on 5 seasons of the TV show ‘Las Vegas.’) Sadly, he’s also not very memorable in this role either. Ouch, double whammy!

The other co-stars in the film are the 4 guys, who at one time or another, threw a coin into a fountain in Rome and made a wish. Beth, during a champagne-filled night of despair, takes matters into her own hands and decides to take coins out of the fountain in hopes that she might gather some luck. What she discovers is a disaster as all of the coins belong to random goofy guys who are now head over heels in love with her. Jon Hader (Napoleon Dynamite2004), Will Arnet (‘Arrested Development’ TV series), Dax Shepard (Baby Mama 2008) and the always hysterical Danny DeVito are her new suitors. Basically, we view each of them in separate scenes trying to court Beth whilst she has no idea what’s going on, but is nonetheless very flattered.

To back track, Beth is invited to a wedding in Rome and she’s the maid of honor to her friend Joan played by Alexis Dziena (Nic and Nora’s Infinite Playlist 2008). Beth meets Nick at the wedding and begins to fall for him. When everyone’s back home and all the random craziness begins with the new suitors, Beth tells Joan about the coins. Joan explains that unless she puts all of the coins back in the fountain, the spell will not be broken. Unfortunately Nick is one of the guys whose coin she took out of the fountain. The number one question: Is Nick really in love with Beth or is the spell from the fountain causing him to act this way? 

Rome as the backdrop is breathtaking and believe me I love that city! Everything about it is wonderful and romantic. Regrettably, this is about the only element of the film that is worthwhile. 

Directed by Mark Stevens (Ghost Rider 2007) and written by David Diamond (Old Dogs2009), the film needs a total over-haul, although I’m not really sure even that would make much of a difference. Sadly, When in Rome simply has too many parts that need repairing.

Sarah Adamson © January 2010