“COINS FOR LOVERS”
Starring: Kristen Bell, Josh Duhamel, Anjelica Huston, Danny DeVito and Will Arnett
Directed by: Mark Steven Johnson
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for some suggestive content.
Genre: Romantic Comedy
Release Date: January 2010
By John Delia
Well the first genuine romantic comedy of the year is in release and it’s a surprisingly fun film. It’s called When In Rome and perking up the fine film is the acting of Kristin Bell and Josh Duhamel. The two have some great chemistry together depicting some awkward moments, challenges and enough kisses to last a lifetime. If your romance button is turned way up, you may want to catch When In Rome.
The film focuses on Beth (Bell) who has a very stressful job acquiring paintings. Her day starts out good until she gets a call from her sister Joan to announce she’s engaged to an Italian she has only known for two weeks and wants her in Rome for the wedding. She travels to Rome despite a super big event she’s in charge of and attends the wedding. Tipsy, she takes five coins out of the fountain of love in the piazza. The coins start working their magic and each of the owners fall magically in love with Beth. Caught up in the dilemma, Beth finds herself juggling her job and love life while taking a detour from true happiness.
Bell and Duhamel make a great couple and that is what makes this love story really work. They provide some great laughs and tender moments together until the fountain love God starts ripping them apart. There support crew that adds to the humor include the likes of Danny DeVito as a sausage distributor, Will Arnet’s a budding painter, Jon Heder has tricks up his sleeve, body model Dax Shepard can’t take no for an answer and the groom’s best friend Nick (Duhamel) is in the middle of all the nonsense.
Director Johnson switches from comic book characters to comedy romance with the movie When In Rome. The obvious flaw in the film is the predictability of the plot, you know boy meets girl, girl drops boy, girl takes boy back. But that aside, it’s the way it plays out in When In Rome that makes the film a fun dater (you won’t have to worry about the conversation afterward). I enjoyed Johnson’s choice of actors, all of which are identifiable from other films, extremely supportive, but hardly ever the star. He even cast Pedro (Efren Ramirez) from Napoleon Dynamite as Lance’s (Jon Heder) cameraman. A nice touch.
The film is rated PG-13 for some suggestive content and a view of Will Arnet’s revealing wall paintings of Beth.
FINAL ANALYSIS: A fun romantic comedy for daters and dreamers. (3.5 of 5 Palm Trees)