Monte Carlo (2011)

Grace (Selena Gomez) lives in Texas, works in a diner, and has just earned her high school diploma. Since receiving a snow globe of Paris when she was young, Grace has been saving money to go on a weeklong vacation to France. Now that graduation is over, she and her close friend, Emma (Katie Cassidy) have the tickets and plan to take off. But, wait. Grace's parents (Brett Cullen and Andie McDowell), newly married, decide that older stepsister, Meg (Leighton Meister) must go along to keep everyone safe. Neither Grace or Meg is happy with this arrangement but decide it will be preferable to no trip at all. Once in Paris, the tour and the hotel are far short of expectations for all of the girls, causing disappointment. But, the trio of gals has a chance eavesdrop with a young British aristocrat, Cordelia (also Selena Gomez) that changes their vacation. Grace discovers that Cordelia is breaking commitments she made for a fund raising in Monte Carlo and going undercover for a few days. Thus, an opportunity arises for Grace to step into Cordelia's shoes, for they resemble identical twins. Once landing in Monaco, the girls are treated like royalty, with fabulous hotel accommodations and a closet full of designer clothes. Holding her breath, Grace finds that no one suspects that she is an impostor, not even the handsome son of the charity's director. He serves as her guide and "date". Emma, too, finds herself the object of affection for the local guys, although she is practically engaged to her boyfriend, Owen, back in Texas. Finally, reserved Meg also comes out of her shell when she meets a dashing Australian tourist. Thus, for a few days, it is a slice of "royal heaven" for the vacationers. But, will the deception be discovered and what will be the consequences if it is? This is a lovely looking film with a beautiful, talented young star, Gomez. A natural performer with a sweet-and-saucy air, she makes the most of her duel roles. Cassidy, Meister, and all of the other cast members do nice work, too. Naturally, the costumes and sets are quite lovely. But, and its huge issue, the script doesn't contain nearly enough comedy or cleverness to sustain a complete film. The premise, yes, is good but the execution is lacking. Then, too, the direction doesn't help matters with its complete dirth of energy. Therefore, the film plods along and has some boring moments. Thankfully, the finale makes a splash but its almost too late. Girls, young and old, will like the film and patiently overlook the dull bits. But, any others forced to watch it will be scowling up a storm.

Fmovies: The main plot of "Monte Carlo" deals with high school student and part-time waitress Grace (Selena Gomez) who has always dreamed of going to Paris, France, with her best friend Emma (Katie Cassidy). However, as luck would have it, her uptight stepsister Meg (Leighton Meester) also tags along for the trip which turns out to be a huge disappointment.

Things change when the trio pop into a five-star hotel and Grace is mistaken for a spoilt and wealthy British socialite. The three friends are then whisked off to Monte Carlo where they have to attend a charity ball, meet the men of their dreams - and get involved in the case of a missing multi-million-dollar necklace! As soon as the girls get to Paris, the movie is shrouded in a pervasive mood of disbelief, sloppily contrived events and 'convenient' coincidences. Even if we accept the odds that Grace gets to meet her lookalike Cordelia Winthrop Scott (also Gomez) at a place and time when Cordelia plans to 'disappear', we are 'forced' to accept many other ridiculous plot contrivances - just so that the mistaken identity caper can run its course. Indeed, the storyline is reminiscent of a host of other mistaken identity tales - and it is utterly predictable. Ditto that for its love stories (each of the girls have one).

Monte Carlo is obviously another vehicle for Disney starlet and singer Selena Gomez (after last year's "Ramona & Beezuz"). While it is obvious that Gomez has great potential as an actress, she doesn't exploit her talents here. There is little chemistry between her Grace and Theo (Pierre Boulanger) and her portrayal of Cordelia borders on 'campy'. Meester fares better as the cautious Meg; at least her relationship with Aussie Riley (Luke Bracey) has its sparks. Glee's Corey Monteith is largely wasted as Emma's boyfriend, Owen. The technical credits are okay but not the movie, though. It kinda sucks.

The problem with Disney Channel stars like Selena Gomez is they're a piece of product placement themselves. They almost come branded with a Disney logo on their forehead, and they present themselves like Disney is always watching them, making sure they maintain the "pretty-girl-who-is-always-clean" persona every one of their actresses has.

Speaking of Disney Channel, I'm curious why this film was so special it had to go theatrical. This is Disney Channel, ABC Family, TV show movie quality. Not summer blockbuster quality. Nothing in this film is remotely special for it to go theatrical. Some points I was trying to pick and choose where commercials would've gone. This will likely end up on the network sometime in 2012. I'm sure parents might be forced by their eight year olds to watch this and I'm sure they'll think "I'm glad we didn't have to pay money to see this in the theaters." Monte Carlo is about Grace (Gomez), a teenage girl who has just graduated High School, and plans to go on a big trip to Paris. She's been saving money for this trip for a while, but her step-dad (Cullen) announces at the dinner table that he has paid for Grace, her friend Emma (Cassidy), and Grace's half sister Meg (Meester). The three girls go off to their destination, and realize soon after that the trip has been a bust. That is until Grace is mistaken for Cordelia Winthrop-Scott (also played by Gomez), a British heiress. So the three girls now travel to Monte Carlo where they are living someone else's life.

No doubt that little girls still amused by Disney Channel's antics will find this film perfectly acceptable, and Selena Gomez to be a role-model. For someone like me, this isn't the kind of film I find good or unique. We also get contrived love stories for each of the three girls, and this winds up feeling more like Sex and the City than a Disney Channel film.

The message is "be yourself, not someone else" as if we hadn't heard it before, the soundtrack boasts bubblegum pop much like every other teenage film, and by the end of the film nothing is learned from the girls or even hinted that they even found what they did was wrong. They suffer no consequences. So instead of telling us to "be ourselves," Disney is possibly saying "go ahead and lie about who you are and fake your identity, the consequences won't be as serious as long as you say you learned something." Most illogical.

Monte Carlo's problem doesn't stem from the three leads. They are beautiful women with lots of potential. The problem is that this is nothing short of cliché, nothing shy of Disney, and the fact that this doesn't attempt to morph its characters into recognizable human beings. I'm hoping one day Selena Gomez will ditch her Disney Channel persona, and hopefully, take on an acting career filled with drama roles and very heartfelt comedies. Something of Judd Apatow maybe. But, as of now, she is stuck advertising for a network that lost its touch many, many years ago.

Starring: Selena Gomez, Leighton Meester, and Katie Cassidy. Directed by: Thomas Bezucha.

Monte Carlo fmovies. If you had asked me who was Selena Gomez a few months back, I would have just blinked at you. If not for attending Justin Bieber's 3D documentary film, being intrigued by his internet fueled meteoric success and inevitably feeding off the tabloids on his career, I would not have known who the lead actress was, but now I do. Based loosely on the novel Headhunters by Jules Bass, the release of Monte Carlo this week in the US and Singapore would probably be deemed suicidal, if not for its appeal to the intended demographic left out of the testosterone filled Transformers, and the more mature movie going audience who would likely flock to Larry Crowne starring Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts (opens in Singapore next week to avoid a three-way battle).

And appeal to that group it does, playing up to its favourite things that if I were a girl I would gobble this up hook, line and sinker. There's travelling to Europe, Paris no less, with a BFF, and a sister you'd love to hate in tow, meeting attractive and more importantly, single guys at every turn, travelling in luxury from being ferried in private jets and limousines, rubbing shoulders with royalty and the rich and famous, as well as having an arsenal of gorgeous outfits to get into topped off by million dollar jewellery, participating in exotic games and attending the coolest parties. Sounds like fun, doesn't it?

But that's about it, with the film very much set in territory already explored in countless of films dealing with coincidental, mistaken identity, where the Prince and the Pauper switch places – this one being one sided and without permission – for the pauper to experience the high life, leading onto moralistic questions such as whether one will be enticed by things superficial and materialistic, or will one return to one's humble roots with morals, principles and values intact. It's the same old usual themes about wanting to fulfill personal objectives and dreams, whatever they may be, whether done so through hard work, or just by meeting the right people.

Selena Gomez takes on two roles here, although her role as the mean British heiress Cordelia Winthrop Scott looks like she's suffering from a constant PMS. Her other main role is of course as Grace, the simple waitress from Texas who had graduated and is taking her graduating trip to Paris with best friend Emma (Katie Cassidy), only for her parents to get her half-sister Meg (Leighton Meester) to tag along despite their hating of each other's guts. So begins the journey of self-discovery for all – Grace to decide whether she should keep up with the charade she and her pals find themselves in at the risk of being a fraud to Theo (Pierre Boulanger) of the Hotel de Paris, Emma to try and figure out if the high life and potentially rich royal-family linked acquaintance can be anything more than friends as compared to her troubled boyfriend Owen (Cory Monteith), and Meg learning to becoming less uptight while getting swept off her feet by Aussie tourist Riley (Luke Bracey).

Yes, that's all the romance lined up, as they zip around the different places in luxurious Monte Carlo, having the second act centered around closure in and around a million dollar necklace meant for a charity auction. In some ways that was the best part of the film as finally there is a sense of purpose and urgency to try and resolve everything amicably and set their identities straight as their charade comes to the inevitable close, with well timed, expected comedy to pave the way to

This movie should have been good I was so looking forward to it. They had an attractive cast and beautiful locations. How could they go wrong? It's pretty bad. The premise is familiar but still usually works - 3 American girls go to Europe and fall into mischief and romance. The problem is there is very little romance and very little humor. The screenplay is badly written without amusing situations or a build up of romance. The dialog is not witty or charming. Hardly any laughs. The directing is bad and choppy. Scenes just seem to jump from one to another abruptly. Leighton Meester is a good actress on Gossip Girl but here she seems to have just limited expressions. Katie Cassidy is slightly miscast a bit too together looking to be what she plays. The casting is strange. Selena Gomez looking like a British heiress? Not only does she not look the part her accent and acting in her 2 characters are not different enough. The male leads Cory Monteith who is a bit of a limited actor usually and Pierre Boulanger don't have much to work with. Only saving grace the locations and scenery are spectacular and it has a very on location feel. Overall: See if it you are a die hard fan of one or more of them but prepared to be disappointed.

"Monte Carlo" follows Grace, Meg and Emma as they travel to Paris, the city of light. However their trip doesn't turn out as good as they hoped it would be. Everything's terrible. Their booked tour, their hotel, their rooms- everything! But their luck changes when Grace is mistaken for a wealthy British celebrity.

This was a sloppily done movie. I'm regretting that I actually went to the movie theater to watch it. This movie's quality was on par with many of the TV movies that Disney has made. The actual plot seemed like it was hastily done and had a few plot holes. Also, I found that each girl's romance stories were unrealistic, underdeveloped and mostly boring.

However, while watching the movie, I did find myself enjoying myself and even chuckling a bit. But maybe it's just because of my age. I don't suggest watching this movie if you're over the age of 15. Or if you aren't female.

Viewed on: July 8, 2011