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Monte Carlo
| Released |
21 October 2011 |
| Director |
Thomas Bezucha |
Starring
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Selena Gomez, Katie Cassidy, Leighton Meester, Cory Monteith, Andie MacDowell, Brett Cullen |
Writer(s)
|
Thomas Bezucha, April Blair, Maria Maggenti |
Producer(s)
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Denise Di Novi Alison Greenspan, Nicole Kidman, Per Saari, Rick Schwartz |
| Origin |
United States, Hungary |
| Running Time |
109 minutes |
| Genre |
Adventure, comedy, romance |
| Rating |
G |
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Monte Carlo goes bust.
Monte Carlo, with its stars plucked from Disney, Glee and Gossip Girl is aimed squarely at an audience of young teen girls and will be of very little interest to anyone else. Girly wish fulfilment and dubious life lessons are the order of the day, all played out in a magical, picture-postcard vision of France. Think Midnight In Paris for tweens.
Selena Gomez plays the sweet and sincere Grace. Keen to leave her hometown, she has been saving hard to pay for a post-graduation trip to Paris with her best friend Emma (Katie Cassidy) and estranged step-sister Meg (Leighton Meester). The initial excitement of the trip soon wears off when the girls find themselves in a dingy Parisian hotel and part of a terrible city tour. Everything changes when Grace is mistaken for a bratty British heiress named Cordelia and they are ushered into the life of luxury in Monte Carlo.
Needless to say, there are also boys, posh frocks and plot contrivances as subtle as a sledgehammer; but this is hardly a hanging offence for such a film. The question, is whether or not it’s charming or funny enough to overcome its formulaic, at times nonsensical plot. It isn’t. The performances are all quite nice but there are too many lurches into sentimentality, wistful smiles at dreamy boys and not nearly enough fun on display to make it of any interest to the over fifteens. Most disappointingly though are the trite morals presented at the end. Throughout the film, there is an emphasis on these girls being lost and unsure in their own lives and worryingly, the conclusion suggests that all they needed was the attention of a good-looking suitor to change into more contented people. It all shows a distinct lack of imagination. As indeed does Thomas Bezucha’s direction, which is high on gloss but low on interest.
So, from my own point of view, Monte Carlo was a bit of a chore. For its target audience though, it’s probably more akin to a sugar hit; I’m sure it will go down a treat at first but will be forgotten half an hour later.
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Linda O’Brien |
