The typical romantic comedy story line never seems to change. A work-obsessed woman who claims she has no interest in love messes with fate and suddenly finds the “perfect guy” while being seemingly struck by love. She encounters a few bumps in the road that are supposed to make us laugh. As usual it fails, but this repetition is making romantic comedies quite painful. When in Rome serves as yet another example of the quality movies have deteriorated to…

Beth, played by Kristen Bell, is an ambitious woman whose sister Joan, played by Alexis Dziena, finds the love of her life in Rome. The family throws a huge wedding as Beth doesn’t want to see her younger sister get married before her, blah blah blah. The jealous main character isn’t happy with his/her life and magically, just like that, life improves greatly for our protagonist. Beth steals four coins from Rome’s “fountain of love” and is instantly loved by four mysterious men. All at the same time, she falls for a man named Nick, played by Josh Duhamel, who she met at her sister’s wedding in Rome and who coincidentally lives near Beth in New York as well.

Beth spends the next few weeks back at her job in the Guggenheim museum avoiding her new suitors and trying to rid herself of them. Meanwhile, Beth and Nick get closer and closer, and I think it’s pretty clear what happens at the end. Go see any other recent romantic comedy and you can easily piece together When in Rome’s plot without setting foot in the theater.

From the very beginning, the movie’s plot seems extremely predictable and unreal. The movie lacks any moments of pure gut-wrenching comedy and instead was filled to the brim with cheap gags. A chuckle here and there is supposed to accompany an adventure movie like Harry Potter, not a romance comedy. As with most romantic comedies, the cheesiness is too much to handle and a predictable ending never helps. All you’ll get from seeing When in Rome is a (singular) laugh, a really cheesy plot and a terrible movie to warn your friends about.

Rating: 0.5 out of 4 stars