When in Rome

Directed by Mark Steven Johnson. Starring Kristen Bell, Josh Duhamel, Bobby Moynihan, Jon Heder, Dax Shepard, Danny DeVito, Anjelica Huston PG cert, gen release, 91 min

WHEN IN ROMEis overly sentimental, structurally dysfunctional and pathologically irritating. It contains several borderline-racist takes on Italian life – you no lika da filma? – that recall Hollywood's depiction of the Irish in the already notorious Leap Year, and it manages to squander the talents of at least three gifted character actors.

Yes, Mark Steven Johnson’s film is pretty awful, but it’s still probably the best mainstream romcom of the summer so far. How did we get here?

Kristen Bell plays a hard-working official at the Guggenheim Museum who, to the chagrin of angry boss Angelica Huston, takes a few days off work to attend the wedding of her minute sister in Rome. Hitherto married to her profession, Ms Bell finds her head being turned by yummy Josh Duhamel at the noisy reception. Later on, however, she spots him hugging a pretty lady and resigns herself to the single life. A bit tipsy, she cynically plucks a few coins from a nearby fountain and makes for the airport.

But wait. It seems this was a magic fountainand (listen carefully, now) each of the chaps who casts a recovered coin is now doomed to fall in love with the heroine. Middle-aged magnate Danny DeVito, peculiar conjuror Jon Heder and solipsistic model Dax Shepard pursue her across the Atlantic and, once landed, up and down Fifth Avenue.

As is often the case with such crazier takes on the romcom, the film-makers don’t quite pull off the shift into the fantastic. One minute Kristen is a level-headed career woman; the next she is consulting a Roman witch for advice on breaking the spell.

Still, free from pouting Anistons and self-regarding Lopezes, When in Romedoes display an unpretentious jolliness that just about keeps it aloft. Younger and less demanding readers may find it reasonably tolerable. That's the most they can expect, these days.