You have to thank the trailers for that, which made me realise this could be kinda fun. Loosely-based on Jules Bass' Headhunters novel, Monte Carlo tells a tale of three young girls on a trip to Paris and somehow getting tangled in an identity mix-up. Grace (Selena Gomez) is an unpopular student working as waitress while waiting for her graduation. She looks forward to her holiday trip to Paris with the money she's saved up during those torturous years of study in college. Accompanying her was her BFF Emma (Katie Cassidy) and much to her dismay, her step-sis Meg (Leighton Meester).
Their initial excitement over their trip of a lifetime is quickly dimmed as it turns out they picked possibly the worst tour in all of the French capital. The hotel is a rat-hole and their tour bus seemed like it wanted to speed off without them. And hey, it eventually did! But the fun begins after, as in the mess they stumbled across wealthy socialite Cordelia Winthrop Scott (also played by Selena Gomez), who looks exactly like Grace, albeit more snobbish and spoiled.
In a funny twist of events, Grace gets mistaken as Cordelia and gets carted off to Monte Carlo (and oh, the other two get tagged along as well) for a charity ball. What follows is an entertaining mix of drama, comedy and romance as the three girls get tangled with royalty, first love and impersonation.
I must say that Gomez surprised me. I expected to be annoyed but she was quite likable.
While her character Grace was more of a girl discovering herself (perhaps a lil similar to her actually), it was her role of Cordelia that really shone. With her snobbish British accent, stuck-up attitude and constant fits, you could tell she was having a ball of a time with her role. Cassidy was crazy as the wild, fun-loving opportunist who eventually learns a thing or two about reality away from boyfriend/fiance Owen (Cory Monteith).
On the other hand Meester's character starts off annoying but ends up being rather charming, especially after she meets Australian backpacker Riley (Luke Bracey).
Without spoiling you on the details, I'll just mention that there's loads of fun, some heartbreak, and plenty of lessons learnt (not to mention landing in hot soup!).
Unfortunately, a film with a cliche central plot is eventually going to follow the inevitable predictable chick-flick route towards the end. And it's a sad thing really, as the characters were quite likable.
However, the movie has quite a number of twists and good messages that keep it from being a total cliche. And there were also some scenes that just dragged on way too long and could've been trimmed shorter.
But fear not as every hilarious scene of Cordelia with her bitchy, snobbish self compensates for any setbacks this movie has. In fact I believed there should've been more of her!
And you'll find yourself laughing whenever the girls get into various sticky situations throughout the movie. The filmmakers also spared no time showing the beauty of Paris and Monte Carlo. It was such a joy watching the gorgeous cities and lush scenery.
So what's there to not like? A tale of three pretty girls, with three equally pretty guys (it's ridiculous when you think about the possibility of so many gorgeous people falling for each other!)... I mean, even the prince looked like a model!
I found myself laughing along and actually enjoying it. And yeah, you'd probably learn a thing or two as well. As for Selena Gomez, I guess she's not so bad after all... :P
3 Stars
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