‘Rome’: Not unbearable (3/5)

When in Rome

Starring: Kristen Bell, Josh Duhamel, Anjelica Huston
Directed by: Mark Steven Johnson
Rating: PG-13 for some suggestive content.
Running time: 1 hours, 31 minutes.

Let’s get this straight — “When in Rome” will not move you. It won’t inspire you to great things. You might not even remember it much the next day.

It’s got more corn than a farmer’s field and is, in every way possible, a rom-com. And not necessarily a good one — “Love Actually” set the bar very high and, as far as I’m concerned, is as accessible by both genders as a rom-com could be.

But for all those guys out there getting dragged to a movie this weekend for Valentine’s Day, this one may be tolerable.

“When in Rome” follows Beth (Kirsten Bell), a curator at the Guggenheim museum in New York City, whose method of knowing if a guy is right for her is whether or not she loves him more than she loves her job. And she loves her job.

So when Beth’s younger sister Joan (Alexis Dziena) shows up at her doorstep with an engagement ring — and a story of how she met her fiance two weeks ago on an airplane (oh boy I hope this doesn’t give anyone any ideas...) — Beth is understandably frustrated with Joan’s rush. Top off the speedy engagement with a wedding that is a mere few days away, and you’ve got one annoyed sister.

At Joan’s Rome wedding, Beth is nearly swept away by groomsman Nick (Josh Duhamel), only to find him outside kissing another woman.

Well, what else is a girl to do but get drunk and prance about in the Fountain of Love?

In an effort to save some poor saps who tossed coins into the fountain, wishing for love, Beth removes five coins from the waters and takes them back with her to New York.

Beth attempts to get back to her day-to-day life, but the charming Nick (who just happens to live in the city as well) pursues her.

And he’s not the only one. Beth finds herself the object of desire from a handful of poorly adjusted and generally oddball gentlemen.

Enter the true stars of the film: Will Arnett as the tortured artist Antonio, Jon Heder (yes, Napoleon Dynamite himself) as the street magician Lance, Dax Shepard as the male model Gale, and Danny Devito as the sausage packer Al. This group will keep you laughing as they each try to get Beth’s attention.

And right when she thought she could really like Nick, Beth discovers that these men are under a spell from the fountain coins that she took.

So the plot may not be the most engaging. But it’s fun, and some of the scenes, such as the restaurant where people eat with no lights on but the servers have night-vision goggles, are hilarious.

And look for Napoleon Dynamite’s buddy Pedro.

The characterization is poor. The premise is silly. But have heart, men in the four-county area: It’s enjoyable enough and there are worse ways to spend an hour and a half (if you were forced to watch “Titanic” instead, you’d only be half-way through!). Don’t expect much, but don’t hate it walking in.

3 of 5 stars