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March 24, 2008
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The Jon Heder Train Wreck Continues With “When In Rome”

— Posted by John Campea

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I was as big a fan of Napoleon Dynamite as anyone and I was very keen (people don’t use that word enough) on seeing Jon Heder do more stuff from there. Well… he did more stuff, and he sucked in all of it. Take your pick of poison:

- Just Like Heaven
- The Benchwarmers
- School for Scoundrels
- Mama’s Boy
- Blades of Glory (I liked this movie, but Heder was dead weight and a half trained monkey could play comedy opposite Will Ferrell)

This sucks because I WANT to like Heder, but so far he’s proved over and over and over again that’s he’s a one trick pony that just can’t carry a movie.

Now comes word that Jon Heder and Josh Duhamel (Who I think has a solid future as a leading man, but let’s be honest, he wasn’t exactly stellar in Transformers) are hooking up with the new romantic Comedy “When In Rome” featuring Kristen Bell, The good folks over at Yahoo News give us this:

Bell (“Veronica Mars”) plays a love-starved New York curator who steals magical coins from the Trevi Fountain in Rome but soon finds herself in a bizarre situation when she is pursued back to New York by a band of aggressive suitors whose coins she took. Duhamel (NBC’s “Las Vegas”) is the romantic lead. Heder (“Napoleon Dynamite”) will play a street magician and one of Bell’s suitors. Shepard (“The Comebacks”) will play an aspiring model. Huston, coming off a stint on NBC’s “Medium,” will play Bell’s boss, the curator of the Guggenheim.

Bell seems to be the flavor of the month right now… and for good reason. She’s hot, she’s adorable, and she seems to have some acting chops to go along with it (she’s pretty damn good in “Forgetting Sarah Marshall”). The premise to the film sounds like it might have potential… I’m just worried about the whole Heder factor.

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8 comments
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Holy crap, this has been my theory ever since "The Benchwarmers", and ever since then he's been the same over excited, down syndrome suffering dumb$#!^ in every film. I'm so shocked to see how many movies he's had, especially a movie with Will Farrel! How undeserving is that!?

I'm very happy to know that someone has finally saw what I saw from the beginning. I remember having such high expectations for "The Benchwarmers", having really enjoyed "Napoleon Dynamite", I assumed John to be a gifted actor, I later decided he wasn't acting at all, he really is that ignorant. Well I guess that's all I have to say.

Mary

Well, I'll stick my head up and say that I was shocked by how much I liked Jon Heder in "Blades of Glory." It probably helped that I went in with zero expectations, and that I literally have not seen a single thing he's done since Napoleon. Still, about halfway through the movie I realized holy cow, I'm actually somewhat invested in Jimmy. Also, I have no idea why his completely straight-faced delivery of "She just got out of the shower! Oh my God, I should call her back later" still makes me laugh.

So, I'm kind of heartened that Heder's chosen a movie with an interesting premise and a good crop of actors surrounding him. I think he's still capable of bringing it, but if he leaves it at home, there's at least enough other things going on to make up for it.

Tammy

Josh Duhamel is a horrible actor. Who did he have to sleep with to get the lead role?

Meli
Meli

Heder - He's definitely lost his appeal.

Duhamel - He's a good looking guy, but I don't think he's really that strong of an actor. He was fine on Vegas and in Transformers, but I don't think he's a name draw. Still, he may be good for romantic comedies.

Bell - I simply adore, but I really really hope she doesn't get trapped in the ROMCOM genre. She's so much better than that.

Bert

Heder is a waste of any screentime - might as well bring back Rob Schneider's carreer if they like this guy so much.

Kristina
Kristina

And as for Josh Duhamel, I lost confidence in his judgment the minute he started dating Fergie.

Kristina
Kristina

Stick a fork in him, he's fucking DONE.

Chark

Heder. Pffffffffffft.

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