In 'When in Rome,' starring Kristen Bell and Josh Duhamel, love is equal parts strange, magical and funny.

What does a New Yorker disillusioned with romance do? Take a whirlwind trip to Rome, that’s what! And head on to a wishing fountain and pluck coins from it in a defiant act against love.

Inexplicably though—and because this is a comedy where strange things can happen—this act of hers makes Beth (played by Kristen Bell of “Veronica Mars” and “Heroes”) the object of passion of the men who threw the coins into the fountain.

“When in Rome” is director Mark Steven Johnson’s return to his comedy roots after becoming known for big-budget movie adaptations for comic book heroes like the Ghost Rider and the Daredevil. While he explains that here, “No one’s head explodes,” he does admit, “I’m a guy, and I’m not a big romantic-comedy guy. [But] I wanted to make a comedy with romance, versus a ‘romantic comedy.’”

Aiming to put a big heart into a comedy movie, Johnson saw the comedic potential of “When in Rome,” in which Beth taking the coins from the fountain has made a sausage magnate (played by Danny DeVito), a street magician (John Heder, “Napoleon Dynamite”), a painter (Will Arnett, “30 Rock”), and a narcissistic model (Dax Shepard, “Zathura”) fall in love with her.

“Kristen is an incredible, amazing actor,” Johnson says. “I have never worked with anyone like her. I really felt you could build a whole movie around this girl.”

Bell portrays Beth, a young curator at the Guggenheim Museum in Manhattan—a ‘gallerina,’ a term that Bell has learned, is used for “young women who run any sort of gallery. It’s sort of a high-pressure job, which is why she’s always so frazzled.”

But after attending her sister’s wedding in Rome, and having a few glasses of bubblies, her life gets more frazzled because of those ‘magic’ coins. “When she gets home, these suitors start to come after her. They’re madly in love. There’s a lot of chasing and running in heels.”

Meanwhile, Beth also meets another guy—a charming reporter who also starts pursuing her with equal zest. Clueless as to what is real, she wonders if this handsome guy Nick (played by Josh Duhamel, also known to some as Mr. Fergalicious—who reportedly renewed his vows with his Black Eyed Peas wife early this year) is also under the same spell.

“Both of them are very driven in their given professions and neither is really looking for love,” says Duhamel of his character. “It’s one of those things, I guess, you usually find it when you’re not looking.”

But the film’s producers saw in Duhamel the perfect leading man for Bell’s confused character. For them Duhamel’s unexpectedly awkward quality made his character funnier and more endearing. “One of Josh’s greatest gifts is his ability to be physically funny,” says producer Andrew Panay. “He was a college quarterback in real life, so he’s very coordinated. But to watch him scramble, fall and run into things—it’s absolutely, incredibly funny. And he’s so natural.”

Gary Foster, another producers, also describes Duhamel as having “this very authentic way about him. He’s really kind of ‘aw shucks.’”

But the saccharine sweet on-screen pairing of Bell and Duhamel is balanced off by the quirkiness of the other four supporting actors in the cast. “I just wanted to surround Kristen with the funniest people I could,” says Johnson.

With top comic performers playing Beth’s strange suitors, the whole filmmaking exercise has turned into one giant good time. “I sometimes could not stop laughing on the set because they’re all so funny,” Bell says.

“Everyone knew there was something kind of special going on,” says Johnson of his actors. “The whole cast added so much to the film and everyone would improvise—but they always did so within the constraints of the scene—nobody would just go off—that can sometimes be a danger when you have so many funny people competing for laughs. They were all really good about serving the story with their improvisation.”

So when in Rome, do as they do—bask in movie magic and a little bit of good ol’ romance.  “When in Rome” is currently playing in local cinemas, so for those wishing for love, come and get it!