By: debbie lynn elias
While this may be the big opening weekend for the much anticipated Michael Bay-Shia LaBeouf adventure, TRANSFORMERS 3: DARK SIDE OF THE MOON, there are a few alternative choices for movie-going this Fourth of July weekend, especially for you fashionista teen and tween girls out there, starting with MONTE CARLO. With a cast comprised of some of your favorite tv stars – Disney’s Selena Gomez, “Gossip Girl” Leighton Meester and even Cory Monteith of “Glee” – all buttressed with a surprisingly funny and strong performance by Katie Cassidy and the introduction to American audiences of a hunk from Down Under, Luke Bracey, and accomplished French actor, Pierre Boulanger, MONTE CARLO is a bit of fluffy, fun escapism with some really great clothes and a fantastic travelogue of Paris and Monte Carlo.
Grace and best friend Emma have been planning a trip to Paris throughout Grace’s entire high school career. Despite a several year age difference, working together as waitresses at the local neighborhood greasy spoon diner have made them almost inseparable, thanks in large part to Grace’s maturity and Emma’s vitality and zest for life. But as the two get set to embark on their dream vacation, Grace’s mother throws a monkey wrench into the plans – Grace’s step-sister Meg is coming along for the ride. A prudish and proper stick-in-the-mud, Meg has long had it in for Emma, who consistently beat out Meg with looks and popularity during their high school days together. But Meg also has no love loss for Grace. Unable to get over the death of her own mother several years ago, Meg is less than thrilled that her father has hooked up with Grace’s mom and sees Grace as infiltrating or stealing “her” father. Needless to say, this dream vacation starts off with all the markings of a disaster for all three girls.
Determined not to let anything spoil her dream, Grace and company set off for Paris, despite the dour mood of Meg. But the tables start to turn once they arrive with their tour bus group. An “inexpensive”, “economical” trip planned out by Grace, the tour guide is rude (but, she’s French!), the tour stops hurried (20 minutes in the Louvre), the hotel rooms tiny tiny tiny with insufficient electrical power to even charge Emma’s cell phone without blowing out the block, and so impersonal and unfriendly that the trio quickly finds themselves stranded at the Eiffel Tower as the tour bus takes off while the girls are atop the tower. And with each little disaster, the girls’ already strained relationship only worsens. (I didn’t say the tables would turn for the best, did I?)
Tired, exhausted and drenched from hiking in the Parisian pouring rain while trying to find their hotel, the girls seek refuge in what can only be described as one of the most beautifully, opulent, apportioned hotels in the world. It even smells like money. Like fish out of water, they intend to dry off and move on, but then Fate smiles upon them in the form of Cordelia Winthrop Scott. The Bad Girl of Britain, it seems that Cordelia is staying at the hotel but is being “ordered” by her Aunt Alicia to move on to Monte Carlo to attend a charity ball and auction being given in her honor as a means to repair her more than tarnished image. Only thing is, Cordelia has other plans and jets off to an island to party with her friends, but not before Emma and Meg get a good look at her. She is a dead ringer for Grace.
With minds racing, Emma and a reluctant Meg and somewhat reluctant Grace, cook up the scheme of the century – let Grace pretend to be the obnoxious spoiled egomaniacal Cordelia. Sporting her best upper crust snooty British accent, Grace easily slips into character and it doesn’t take long before the girls are winging their way on a private jet to the sub-drenched beaches of Monte Carlo.
With enough Louis Vuitton luggage to fill an entire store, and all of it packed with designer clothes, shoes, accessories and a complete trunk of make-up, the girls, especially Emma, are in heaven. And where fancy clothes and fancy balls go, so do princely, rich men. With the dream continuing long past the clock striking midnight, Emma meets up with a real prince (while forgetting her long time beau back home, Owen), Grace aka Cordelia becomes smitten with Theo Marchand whose family children’s charities will benefit from an auction of a multimillion dollar Bulgari necklace owned by Cordelia, and Meg, well Meg hooks up with the unpolished, free-spirited and supremely hunky Riley – the complete antithesis of her prim and proper self.
Embarking on their own foible filled romantic adventures in Monte Carlo (while staying in the famed Grimaldi Suite at the Hotel de Paris, no less), the girls also face their own individual adventures of self-discovery which may or may not burst when the real Cordelia arrives on scene. Will their down home Texas smarts be enough to survive Europe’s upper crust?
Selena Gomez steps away from Disney but not away from a Disney-like character with her portrayal of Grace, Cordelia and Grace being Cordelia. Granted, the personas of Grace and Cordelia are completely different, but there is nothing really challenging or exemplary to Gomez’ work. It’s sweet. It’s fluff. It’s safe. Very one note. But when she nails the British accent, she nails it. I will say, however, that when in character as Cordelia, she does some of the best acting of her career.
Leighton Meester stretches herself more than we’ve seen in the past and actually comes across as if she enjoys being Meg. Best known for “Gossip Girl” and “Country Strong”, Meester is likeable, engaging and her chemistry with Luke Bracey is more than believable. Speaking of Bracey, I fully expect America to see more from him in the future. So charismatic and so good looking – girls…take notice!
But the real standout for me is Katie Cassidy. She takes the role of Emma by the horns and makes it her own, filling the character not only with fun, but with a spectrum of emotions. And that Texas accent – spot on and never misses a beat. It is Cassidy who truly embraces and realizes the “princess dream” concept of the story.
Directed by Thomas Bezucha, who previously helmed “The Family Stone”, and co-written by Bezucha along with April Blair and Maria Maggenti based on the teen themed novel “Headhunters” by Jules Bass, MONTE CARLO is like a quick summer read on the beach but with pretty pictures added. The story itself – and its visuals – are so reminiscent of Hilary Duff in Disney’s “Lizzie McGuire Movie” and even scene specific instances from another Duff vehicle “A Cinderella Story”, that I never felt any form of originality. Also problematic is Gomez’ falling in and out of accent as Cordelia. What appears to be done deliberately (or maybe not), the lapses are either ignored or glossed over when detected by other characters. This should have immediately sent the storyline in a different direction than what we have on screen.
You get no argument from me as to the breathtaking beauty of Hugo Lucyzc-Wyhowski’s production design and Jonathan Brown’s exquisite cinematography in the Paris and Monte Carlo locations. Shooting in Room 77 of the Louvre, the Sacre Couer, Pont des Arts, Arc de Triomphe, the famed Gare de Lyon train station, the most famous iconic sites of Paris are beautifully portrayed. Celebrating the pastel scenic loveliness of Monte Carlo included the Larvotto Beach, Port Hercule Harbor, and Hotel de Paris plus a trip to the stunning cliffside Eilnroc in Antibes, Frances where a scene between Meg and Riley was lensed (perhaps my favorite scene in the film visually). Surprisingly, much of the film was shot on some created stages in Hungary plus Budapest locations like the majestic baroque-designed Hungarian State Opera House, Szaba Ervin Library and Nygati Railway plus an open-air disco on the Danube. And while I can look at scenes of the blue waters of the Mediterranean and the Grimaldi Suite all day, as well as the exquisite designer gowns and other costumes brought in by Shay Cunliffe, not to mention that Bulgari necklace, a bit more story substance and cohesiveness would be nice.
Particularly special is the loving nod to old Hollywood and Princess Grace of Monaco aka Grace Kelly, in the form of a French-dubbed clip of “To Catch A Thief” with Cary Grant, plus the use of the Grimaldi Suite (which couldn’t be used at one point during production due to a visit from Kelly’s son HRH Prince Albert II of Monaco), not to mention some driving scenes on the very road driven by Kelly and Grant in “To Catch A Thief”. You didn’t think for a minute the crew would go to Monaco and not have some homage to Grace Kelly, did you?
A big admirer of composer Michael Giacchino, I am more than pleased to see his scoring come into play with MONTE CARLO. In addition to soundtrack vocals (yes, one from Selena Gomez), Giacchino does a vibrant score that captures Texas twang and country music, plus some Pink Pantheresque caper tones and melodic European notes, all of which serve the film well as a backdrop to the visual beauty and character traits/storyline.
MONTE CARLO – it’s as a pretty as a picture.
Grace/Cordelia – Selena Gomez
Emma – Katie Cassidy
Meg – Leighton Meester
Directed by Thomas Bezucha.
Written by Bezucha, April Blair and Maria Maggenti based on the novel “Headhunters” by Jules Bass.
