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Assistant to the U.S. Ambassador to France, James Reece (Jonathan Rhys Meyers), has aspirations of being a secret agent for the U.S. government. And, after doing a few odd cloak and dagger type jobs he’s eager to do more; when Uncle Sam calls to “activate” him, James could be getting more than he ever wished for. Now required to assist his partner, the brash, daring, and unorthodox Charlie Wax (John Travolta), James is about to get a crash course in foreign espionage. But, who else might be using James for information, and, how far will he have to go to stop a suicide bomber from killing scores of innocent people?

Thinking good cop bad cop played out buddy drama? You’d be thinking right, but then there’s the twist, it’s set in romantic Paris; and, anything that takes the city of romance and juxtaposes twenty plus bad guys getting gunned down must be kind of edgy huh? Not terribly deep, but I suppose it was worth a shot. Overall the screenplay comes up predictable and stale. Attempts at comedy muster a few chuckles and a few groans and Travolta hamming it up is rather hit and miss. On the positive side, the action sequences take on an interesting sense of chaos that are surprisingly easy to follow despite the fast and frenetic pace. Probably best as a rental. From Paris With Love is rated R.

Detective Ron Craven (Mel Gibson) finds himself in the middle of a political cover up when his seemingly innocent daughter Emma (Bojana Novakovic) is gunned down on his front porch.  Unwilling to let the issue rest, Craven begins digging deeper into the mysterious death; but, more questions than answers are raised when the enigmatic Darius Jedburgh (Ray Winstone)appears to shed some light on the situation. Driven by a love for his daughter and a reckless attitude, just how far will Craven go to solve this tangled mess and what will be the ultimate cost?

Based on the 1985 BBC mini series of the same name this suspense thriller takes a while to get going, and, even once it’s in motion still feels a little sluggish in its unraveling. Regardless, solid acting from all involved certainly helps to drive the film. A few softer scenes with Gibson and his daughter as a young girl come across as particularly genuine, which is nice in that it gives the audience a chance to breathe for a moment. A particularly high body count to the film may be a bit much for some, although this shouldn’t come across as a surprise since one of the lead writers of the screenplay also happens to be William Monahan, the same writer who brought us The Departed. Matinee worthy, Edge of Darkness is rated R.

Beth (Kristen Bell) is a young, up and coming curator at the Guggenheim. Always putting her career first Beth hasn’t been able to find love, although, while attending her sister’s wedding in Rome, life takes a turn in the opposite direction. Through a bizarre magical turn of events Beth now has five potential eccentric suitors including: Antonio (Will Arnett), Lance (Jon Heder), Gale (Dax Shepard), Al (Danny DeVito), and Nick (Josh Duhamel). In sincerity Beth wants the love of Nick, but given the “magical” circumstances of the relationship, her conscience can’t accept his advances. But what if Nick’s love is for real, can Beth politely dismiss the other men pining for her affection, and, will true love prevail?

 Just when you thought romantic comedies couldn’t get a whole lot worse….brother hold on ’cause we’ve got a new reigning champ. Weak screenplay, both dramatically and comedically the cliches abound and don’t let up….ever. And, despite the acting prowess of some of the principals in this flick, this is a prime example that sometimes you can’t even make lemonade out of lemons, particularly when the lemons are spoiled. Worthy of a few chuckles at best, this predictable and paint by numbers script offers nothing new. Cheap production value bleeds the film of it’s soul further. I would probably even question renting this on DVD, When In Rome is rated PG-13.