(Sign. Me. Up.)
CAST: Selena Gomez, Leighton Meester, Katie Cassidy, Cory Monteith, Luke Bracey, Pierre Boulanger, Catherine Tate, Andie MacDowell, Brett Cullen.
DIRECTOR: Thomas Bezucha
WARNING: Some SPOILERS and some tempting reasons to travel to Monte Carlo with your girl posse (or fag hags) and impersonate an heiress - straight ahead
IT’S LIKE THIS: Grace (Selena Gomez) is determined to make her summer after high school graduation a special one. Indeed, she can’t wait to put her Honky-Tonk Texas town in her rearview and live it up in Paris (“Paris, France” not “Paris, Texas“) with older twentysomething gal pal Emma (Katie Cassidy). Basically, they’ve been saving up forever for this trip, working hard as waitresses at the local eatery. Unfortunately, at the last minute, Grace’s worry-wart parents (Brett Cullen and Andie MacDowell) send Grace’s uptight older stepsister Meg (Leighton Meester) along as a chaperone - which Meg isn’t crazy about since she gets along with Emma and Grace the way a cat gets along with a mouse. To make matters worse, Grace, Emma, and Meg arrive in the City of Light to discover that they are on the worse tour package of Paris ever: shitty hotels, crowded bus, rushed itinerary, impatient tour guide. So far, looks like Grace’s summer vacay is going to suck donkey balls.
Then, quite unexpectedly (really quite unexpectedly), Grace and her two flunkies wander into a ritzy hotel - where Grace is mistaken for a super-biyatch British heiress named Cordelia Winthrop Scott. And in a turn of events so fantastic it makes ROMAN HOLIDAY look like a gritty documentary, Grace ends up traveling to Monte Carlo as Cordelia - with Emma and Meg in tow as, I guess, her ladies-in-waiting or whatever. Before you know it, our lovely threesome is living the high life as faux-celebrities on the French Riviera. Let’s hope it lasts…
Good girl
Snotty girl
Before
AfterTHE DUDE (OR DUDETTE) MOST LIKELY TO SAVE THE DAY: Our three heroines, who end up having each other’s backs. Girl Power!
EYE CANDY MOST LIKELY TO FIRE UP A WOODY: Selena Gomez is actually pushing 20, but still looks 14, so as lovely as she is, this award goes to twentysomethings Katie Cassidy and Leighton Meester (both of whom I’ve always liked). In the guy department, we have Russell Crowe/Edward Norton/Paul Walker hybrid Luke Bracey as Meg’s Aussie love interest Riley, and French hottie Pierre Boulanger as Grace’s new man Theo.
MOST INTENTIONALLY HILARIOUS SCENE: Emma demonstrating her “knowledge” of French - to Meg and Grace’s utter horror. Shit, even I speak better French. And that is saying something - because I sound like Inspector Clouseau on helium.
MOST UNINTENTIONALLY HILARIOUS SCENE: Grace having to pretend to be Cordelia in front of Cordelia’s Aunt Alicia (Catherine Tate). And also, our girls rushing down the Eiffel Tower to catch their crappy bus tour before it leaves them behind. In either case: awkward.
HOTTEST SCENE: Any scene between Riley and Meg. These two are dynamite. Love ‘em…
INQUIRING MINDS WANT TO KNOW: Can Grace continue to get away with pretending to be Cordelia? Or will the press, Aunt Alicia, or Theo eventually catch on? Will Meg and Grace ever accept each other as sisters? Will Meg and Emma ever bury the hatchet and get along? Will Riley help loosen Meg up? What about Emma’s boyfriend Owen back in Texas? What happens when he follows the gals all the way to Monte Carlo? Will he blow their cover sky-high? What about Cordelia herself? Will she ever realize that a humble Texan lookalike is impersonating her - and unleash some chic and elegant whoop-ass? We shall see. But as they say: “Don’t Mess With Texas!”
WHY YOU SHOULD WATCH “MONTE CARLO”: If you like charming, well-made romantic comedies about Americans overseas getting into all sorts of shenanigans, that are seriously elevated by the energy and chemistry of its stars. And if you adore Selena Gomez, Leighton Meester, and Katie Cassidy…
WHY YOU MAY NOT ENJOY “MONTE CARLO”: If watching young women have fun, fall in love, and learn some valid life lessons in the middle of a beautiful foreign city is not your bag. In which case, take a hike…
BUT, SERIOUSLY: I may get some flak from some quarters for rating MONTE CARLO so high. Indeed, most critics seem to dismiss this film as nothing more than escapist fluff. Well, frankly, it’s not any more or less escapist or fluffy than our last review PRETTY WOMAN - which is widely considered to be a classic. Like it, MONTE CARLO is an enjoyable and diverting romantic comedy that has more depth and intelligence that most folks give it credit for. In essence, it’s the same Cinderella story that PRETTY WOMAN and other classics like ROMAN HOLIDAY and THE PRINCESS DIARIES have used.
Originally meant to be a vehicle for Nicole Kidman and Julia Roberts, MONTE CARLO began life as an adaptation of Jules Bass’ novel “Headhunters”. It was about four American women who travel to Monte Carlo to find rich husbands - by pretending to be rich heiresses themselves. Now, I haven’t read the book, but I am not too keen on the idea of four women lying and manipulating just to bag wealthy men. It seems like it would undermine sympathy for them - and send the wrong message about female empowerment. Maybe this is tackled well in the novel, I don’t know.
Fortunately, the studio decided to make the film with a younger cast, and turned it into a vehicle for Disney star Selena Gomez. The number of leads was changed from four to three, and were all made younger. Most importantly, they also became more innocent and far less calculating. In essence, Grace, Emma, and Meg are just like any other trio of twentysomething tourists - they just want to have fun. Unfortunately, their Paris trip goes wrong from the word “go” - which disappoints Grace because she’s been looking forward to it for years. So when the opportunity arises to salvage it by pretending (for a short time, anyway) to be her rich lookalike Cordelia, she jumps on it. Of course, everything snowballs from there - but because Grace, Emma, and Meg have been so well-drawn, we’re committed to their fates.
That’s the main reason that MONTE CARLO rates very good in my book - the characters. Each and everyone of them is painted in interesting, sometimes contradictory shades. Selena Gomez proves worthy of being the star of her own film. She has a quiet strength and dignity - especially in the Texas scenes before they leave for Europe. Gomez ably suggests Grace’s hunger for experience and adventure - symbolized by her long-planned for trip to Paris. And later, when she is neck-deep in the charade of being Cordelia, she is motivated to continue it because of the charitable donations she as Cordelia will attract. Essentially, Grace is believably tempestuous but also believably noble - and Gomez handles the dichotomy well. She is also a nice match for Pierre Boulanger as Theo, the French philanthropist who thinks she is Cordelia - but is charmed by the Texan gal underneath. It should also be mentioned that Gomez does well pulling double-duty as Cordelia, the icier-than-ice British aristocrat whom Grace resembles.
Katie Cassidy is a sheer delight as the “goodtime gal” Emma, who is both Grace’s best friend and mentor. I’m willing to bet that in the “Headhunters” version of the MONTE CARLO script, Emma was probably the most aggressive of the gold-digging quartet - the ringleader. Here, she is much more innocent and naïve. She’s loyal to her boyfriend Owen back in Texas, but just wants to have a ball in MONTE CARLO while she’s there. Who can blame her? Cassidy brings an irresistible sparkle to the role, but also some unexpected gravity - especially in a nice heart-to-heart scene with Grace where Emma assures her of her promise. Basically, Emma is the best friend that every gal should have: fun, smart, real, and loyal. Cassidy does wonders with the role, and she also meshes well with Corey Monteith as Owen, the boy back in Texas she can’t forget. Their reunion scene late in the film is quietly moving.
I’m equally enamored of Leighton Meester. Prior to this film, I’d only caught glimpses of Meester in a couple of episodes of the TV show “Gossip Girl” while visiting some friends - but that was enough to know she is a talent to be reckoned with. She brought a delicious bite to her complex role of Blair Waldorf. In MONTE CARLO, she is much more vulnerable, open, and relatable. Meg is probably the film’s best-drawn character, and Meester runs with her, infusing the role with a whole gallery of non-verbals and gestures that are simply charming to watch. Initially uptight and almost standoffish, Meg is obviously going to be “melted” by her encounters with the free-spirited and adventurous Riley. What’s great about Meester, though, is how skillfully she plays this arc by making it a lot less predictable and far more quirky than you’d expect. There’s a genuine pleasure to watching Meg embrace life and adventure because of Riley’s influence. They are the best couple in this film - and their scenes together, the most memorable. And I firmly believe that Meester could be the next “Julia Roberts” if she wants to. She’s that special.
Catherine Tate, Andie MacDowell, and Brett Cullen are fine as the older characters on the sidelines. Tate, in particular, is quite good as Cordelia’s increasingly suspicious Aunt Alicia. As with the other characters, Alicia has layers to her that are revealed as MONTE CARLO goes forward, and her role in the climactic auction is a nice surprise. Tate, MacDowell, and Cullen bring the same energy to their roles as the younger cast members do - and all that positive buzz goes a long way in making MONTE CARLO an enjoyable experience.
In the end, though, this movie works as well as it does primarily because of strong performances from Selena Gomez, Leighton Meester, and Katie Cassidy. Their sisterly chemistry and cheerful energy is so contagious, you can’t help but have a good time right along with them. They make a great trio of heroines to spend a couple of hours cruising around MONTE CARLO with…
