The whole is better than the parts.

Rating: 6/10 (14 July 2012)

Moving back and forth between four intertwined vignettes, Allen gives us his views on how Fate influences Fame, Love, Marriageand Fame.
In the vignette featuring internationally-known actor and comedian Roberto Benigni ("Life is Beautiful"), Allen ridicules the capriciousness of meaningless fame promoted by the media. I was immediately reminded of Eça de Queiroz's "The City and the Mountains" (1902). A ticker tape machine inside the main character's ultramodern home in Paris spits out the following information: "the Russian frigate Azoff has entered Marseilles after a mechanical failure". The character immediately hangs up the phone and rushes over to read the ticker tape, and a friend asks the main character if the Azoff's problem affects him directly. He answers: "Does it affect me? No, it's a news item." In fact, it's a completely meaningless event that the news media has chosen to make into its story of the day. However, the vignette itself is as ridiculous as the new media it parodies. Although I loved Roberto Benigni in "Down by Law" (1986) (Allen's movie borrows from director Jim Jarmusch's style), I found this vignette to be the weakest of the four. But if you like Roberto Benigni channeling Jerry Lewis, you might like it.
A second vignette features a young Italian couple that has just arrived in Rome from the country, where their extended family has offered to set the young man up in a good job. Then by mistake or fate, Penelope Cruz enters the couple's life. This vignette is only slightly less weak than the one above. It just wasn't all that funny nor was it in any way original; Penelope Cruz is merely channeling her crazy Maria Elena character from Allen's "Vicky Cristina Barcelona." There is a third vignette featuring the ghost-like Alec Baldwin (it's not clear if he's a real person, or a ghost, or both) unsuccessfully and ironically trying to help Jesse Eisenberg avoid an inescapable mistake imposed by fate. Just as Charlie Sheen was obviously playing himself in his hit series "Two and a Half Men", Alec Baldwin is obviously channeling Alec Baldwin although officially Alec Baldwin isn't "Alec Baldwin" in the movie. If you like "30 Rock", you'll like this vignette.
Finally, the strongest vignette oddly enough is the one that features Woody Allen and Italian tenor Fabio Armiliato. Yes, Woody Allen is channeling a Woody Allen-type character and isn't that good. But this particular vignette does have the best set of characters of any of the fourand it is a good critique of the "America's Got Talent" mentality juxtaposed against Allen's "you have to risk (and experience) failure and derision to be true to yourself" philosophy.
*I* had to go because my wife loves Woody Allen movies and Rome (she gave the film an "okay"; not as good as "Midnight in Paris"), so I get point for taking her to the movies. If you want to see what Rome is like before you go, definitely go see the film; the cinematography is very good, and it definitely makes Rome seem like a charming place worth visiting. And since modern Italian films and TV are pretty terrible (yes, mostly much, much worse than US films and TV), it may be your only chance to see Italian actors (who *aren't* all terrible) in a movie or program that is NOT terrible. Overall, I give "To Rome with Love" a 6 for making Rome seem charming, which might help Italy's economic ills, for showcasing Italian actors, and because the whole is somewhat better than the parts.