The film is set in Rome; it was released in Italian theaters on April 13, 2012,[5] and opened in Los Angeles and New York City on June 22, 2012.

The story is told in four separate vignettes: a clerk who wakes up to find himself a celebrity, an architect who takes a trip back to the street he lived on as a student, a young couple on their honeymoon, and an Italian funeral director whose uncanny singing ability enraptures his soon to be in-law, an American opera director.

During the visit, Michelangelo's mortician father Giancarlo sings in the shower and Jerry, a retired—and critically reviled—opera director, feels inspired to bring his gift to the public.

Giancarlo is convinced by Jerry to audition in front of a room of opera bigwigs but performs poorly in this setting.

Giancarlo receives rave reviews, but decides to retire from opera singing, preferring to work as a mortician and spend time with his family.

Newlyweds Antonio and Milly plan to move to Rome after his uncles offer him a job in their family's business.

Milly and the thief climb into bed and fool Mrs. Salta into believing the room is theirs while Luca hides in the bathroom.

Throughout the rest of the story, John appears as a quasi-real and quasi-imaginary figure around Jack and makes frank observations of events.

The vignettes featured in the film deal with the theme of "fame and accomplishment", although Allen stated that he didn't intend for them to have any thematic connection.

The critical consensus is that "To Rome With Love sees Woody Allen cobbling together an Italian postcard of farce, fantasy, and comedy with only middling success.

"[4] A. O. Scott of The New York Times found some of the scenes "rushed and haphazardly constructed" and some of the dialogue "overwritten and under-rehearsed", but also recommended it, writing "One of the most delightful things about To Rome With Love is how casually it blends the plausible and the surreal, and how unabashedly it revels in pure silliness.

"[1] On the other hand, David Denby of The New Yorker thought the film was "light and fast, with some of the sharpest dialogue and acting that he's put on the screen in years.

"[15] In 2016, film critics Robbie Collin and Tim Robey ranked it as one of the worst movies by Woody Allen.

[16] On November 10, 2017, Elliot Page described working on To Rome with Love as the "biggest regret" of his career, referring to sexual abuse allegations made by Allen's adopted daughter Dylan Farrow.