Successful and single 29-year-old Beth, an art curator at the Guggenheim, is at a point in her life where love seems like a luxury she can't afford.

After flying to Rome to be the maid of honor in her younger sister Joan's impulsive wedding, she meets 26-year-old Nicholas Beamon, the best man.

Slightly drunk and jealous at seeing Nick with another woman (who only very much later turns out to be the groom's "crazy cousin"), she picks up coins (a poker chip, a rare coin, a penny, a trick quarter and a Euro) from the "fountain of love" (based on the Trevi Fountain).

Beth is pursued back in New York City by a band of pushy suitors whose coins she gathered, including a diminutive sausage magnate Al, lanky street illusionist Lance, a doting painter Antonio, and a narcissistic male model Gale.

Joan calls Beth on the day of a gala and tells her that the spell can also be broken by returning the coins to the original owner.

The telephone call scene features the song "I Am Changing" by the Los Angeles band Mafia Bianca LLC, written and produced by Simone Sello and Steven Heinstein.

The consensus states that "A pair of young, attractive leads can't overcome When in Rome's reliance on unfunny gags and threadbare rom-com clichés.

[9] Despite negative reviews, James Berardinelli of ReelViews gave the film a fair review of 2.5/4 stars, claiming, "The saving grace of the otherwise generic product is that Bell's vivacity and Duhamel's rakish charm allow the viewer to root for them, even if sometimes that rooting goes so far as to wish the script would serve the couple better than it does.

"[10] The film was released on January 29, 2010, and opened at #3 with $12,350,041 in United States and Canada behind Avatar and Edge of Darkness.