The original “Prince of Persia” computer game, as far as I remember from 20 or so years ago, was an acrobatic platform game that punished any error on your part with a painful view of your skewered and mangled corpse. I never had the nerve to play.

I think the game’s creator (who has a producing credit on this film, not that that means much) intended something more in keeping with the lush, evocative title. Later versions of the game invested more heavily in story, romance and Arabian Nights imagery, and less heavily in lacerated flesh. That’s the direction the film intended to go, certainly. This is an adventure story, in the old-fashioned sense, rather than an action movie, which isn’t a bad thing – think Pirates of the Caribbean. No, lightning has not struck twice; this is not another Pirates. But it’s a serviceable piece of light entertainment in the same genre, hard not to enjoy.

The story hardly matters: there’s a hero (Gyllenhaal) who’s something of a feckless puppy, who must prove himself, save the world, and win the heart of a princess. And, paying tribute to the original computer game, he does a decent amount of leaping from one precariously balanced piece of masonry to another.

Beth (Bell), an ambitious young curator at New York’s Guggenheim Museum, is disillusioned with romance after her ex-boyfriend chooses an event she is hosting at the museum to announce he’s getting married, to another woman. To make matters worse for her, her sister Joan (Alexis Dziena) announces she is getting married to the rich Italian man she met 4 or so weeks ago. It’s at Joan’s wedding (in Rome of course) that she meets footballer-turned reporter Nick (Duhamel). Unfortunately this adds to her frustrations in the romance department and she plucks four coins from the so-called fountain of love, which she feels is mocking all those who put any hope into it. By doing so she inexplicably ignites the passion of those who threw them in: sausage magnate Al (Danny DeVito), street magician Lance (Jon Heder), besotted painter Antonio (Arnett) and tattooed, self-loving Gale (Dax Shepard). As Nick pursues her she cannot allow herself to fall for him as he’s simply under the fountain’s spell. Isn’t he?

Josh Duhamel is a good-looking man. So why did the makers of this movie feel the need to make the other four guys as unattractive as they possibly could? I’m sure Beth would have picked him over these other men anyway. It just seemed a little bit too try-hard. That said, this is a nice light rom-com that will put a smile on your face. And that’s all we’re asking for isn’t it?