While Hollywood releases romantic comedies throughout the year, it seems that January is tailor-made for them. Part of this is because Valentine’s Day is just around the corner, but in general these kind of films do well no matter what time of year it is. And, considering there’s thin competition from new releases in the first month of the year, you can expect two or three to get released at this time.
We’ve already had “Leap Year,” and now we have the more traditional “When In Rome.” The film follows Beth (Kristen Bell), a curator at the Guggenheim who travels to Rome for his sister’s sudden wedding. There, Beth meets the charming but clumsy Nick (Josh Duhamel), and there’s a potential spark of love. However, when she sees him kissing another woman, Beth decides to steal some romantic luck of her own by pulling some coins from a famous wishing fountain. In accordance with local legend, this causes the owners of these coins to fall in love with her and follow her back to America.
The movie represents a turn for director Mark Steven Johnson, whose previous films centered on Marvel superheroes (Daredevil and Ghost Rider, to be exact). It also represents a relatively mainstream turn for star Kristen Bell, who until now has played in more genre-specific roles like NBC’s “Heroes” and the WB’s “Veronica Mars.” She tested the water with date movies in the male-centric “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” and the ensemble film “Couple’s Retreat.” Now, she gets her own rom com to prove herself to be the next Julia Roberts or Reese Witherspoon.
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