movie review
Monte Carlo
Gorgeous locations are the star in this throwback to classic movies
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I heard that ‘Monte Carlo’ was originally cast with Julia Roberts and Nicole Kidman, but that the producers wanted to shoot the movie with a younger cast. It would have been a far different (and, most likely, better) movie with Roberts and Kidman. What we got was a fluffy teen flick that could have easily aired on ABC Family, Nickelodeon or the Disney Channel.
Based on the Jules Bass book ‘Headhunters,’ the movie is centered around a recent high school grad named Grace, played by Selena Gomez, who got her start on ‘Barney & Friends’ in 2002 and went on to star in the Disney Channel’s ‘Wizards of Waverly Place.’ She’s unsure of her future, but excited to be heading off to Paris with her best friend Emma (Katie Cassidy).
Unfortunately, the trip gets a big wet blanket thrown on it when Grace learns that her uptight stepsister Meg (Leighton Meester) is going with them. But the girls try to make the best of things, even though they’re saddled with a crummy motel room and their tour company rushes through every cool Paris attraction.
All that changes when Grace is mistaken for a wealthy British heiress and the girls decide to take advantage of the situation. They’re whisked away to Monte Carlo, put up in a gorgeous hotel suite, and find themselves in designer clothes at balls and charity events.
I think ‘Monte Carlo’ is meant to be a throwback to all those great movies of the 1940s and 50s, like ‘Three Coins in the Fountain’ and ‘Roman Holiday.’ It’s breezy and adventurous and romantic, as each girl finds love and adventure in her own way, despite the fact that the case-of-mistaken-identity story is completely unbelievable in this age of heightened security.
Honestly, though, I’m a mom, so all I could think about was ‘Taken,’ the 2008 thriller starring Liam Neeson as a father desperate to find his daughter after she’s abducted during a European vacation with her friend. While watching ‘Monte Carlo,’ I kept rehearsing a conversation with my teenage daughter: don’t leave the group, don’t wander off with strangers, always keep your cell phone charged and with you, trust no one – especially a cute boy – and no, you’re never going to Europe with a friend!
But those classic romantic comedies never worried about such things. Everyone was always safe, the people were nice and friendly, and happy endings were abundant. But real life doesn’t work that way, especially in these modern times with unsavory characters at every turn.
On a strictly cinematic level, ‘Monte Carlo’ has some gorgeous locations around Paris and Monte Carlo, and it even references ‘To Catch a Thief,’ which filmed in Monte Carlo in 1955. One of the girls is watching the movie on TV, and we see the scene where Grace Kelly and Cary Grant enjoy a roadside picnic in their convertible.
But it only made me want to pull ‘To Catch a Thief’ off my shelf and pop it into my DVD player. That was a great movie, and ‘Monte Carlo’ is an unremarkable movie that no one will remember next week.
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