Review of film: “MONTE CARLO”

  

2011, 07-05:

Review of film:  “MONTE CARLO”

Grace (SELENA GOMEZ) is a teenager living in Texas.  She’s a generous person, & has a comparatively tense stepsister named Meg (LEIGHTON MEESTER) whose real mother recently died (which has left her in a sad mood)...

...  Selena’s best friend is a waitress named Emma (KATIE CASSIDY), & she’s agreed to go with Selena on an eagerly-awaited vacation trip to PARIS (especially since Katie’s boyfriend Owen {CORY MONTEITH} seemed insincere about asking her to marry him)...  

...  Selena is quite upset when her dad Robert (BRETT CULLEN) & especially her mom Pam (ANDIE MacDOWELL) want her to also have Leighton go on the trip to Paris (in effect as a kind of “chaperone”) since she’s OLDER...

...  Reluctantly (because Leighton is a “complainer”), Selena & Katie agree to have her along (rather than having to cancel their trip)...

...  Selena has planned a bus tour of Paris, & Leighton is correct that it was a MISTAKE to commit to that sightseeing, as they have a HORRIBLE time overall:  the room they’re put up in is too small & with bad electricity, the tour doesn’t allow them to see things PROPERLY as they’re always very RUSHED at the Louvre, etc...

...  At the Sacre de Coeur church & the Eiffel Tower (shown below), Leighton chances to me a friendly AUSTRALIAN guy named Riley (LUKE BRACEY), who’s clearly attracted to her...  But, she has little time to really talk to him, since they have to keep rushing away for the sightseeing... 

...  After missing their tour bus, the girls get caught in a bad downpour of rain.  To get out of it, they slip into the closest shelter nearby, which happens to be a very fancy upscale luxury hotel...

...  As she’s about to enter the hotel, Serena is mistaken by some paparazzi for being an uppity British heiress named Cordelia (ALSO played by SERENA)...  And, because she facially looks just LIKE Cordelia, the HOTEL people also insist she go up to CORDELIA’S room there...

...  The girls overhear the “real” Cordelia in a phone conversation where she tells a friend she’s slipping AWAY from the Hotel & plans to go elsewhere...  So, per Katie’s idea, they take ADVANTAGE of her absence to USE Cordelia’s room & clothes & the like...

..  As part of their having a good time, they agree to get in a car sent for Cordelia, & are whisked off to fly on a private plane to MONTE CARLO in the tiny Principality of Monaco (shown below) in the far southeast area of France on the Mediterranean Sea... 

...  There, the girls find out Serena (as Cordelia) is there to donate a fancy NECKLACE to a charity auction held by Bernard Marchand (CHRISTOPHE MALAVOY) to build schools for underprivileged kids in ROMANIA...   

...  Christophe’s handsome son Theo (PIERRE BOULANGER) is set to guide the girls around the area & see to it that Serena (as Cordelia) does what she’s “supposed” to do...

...  Since Cordelia’s had a bad reputation known for being “uppity” & the like, Pierre initially is not fond of Serena.  But, bit-by-bit, as they spend TIME together, he starts to LIKE her, since she doesn’t seem to really be “pompous” as tabloids have claimed...

...  Lo and behold, who shows up in Monte Carlo but “Australian” LUKE, & spending time with Leighton (who he promptly “runs into”) puts her in a much “BETTER” mood (which makes the other 2 girls “freer” to have a GOOD time)...

...  Missing Katie, CORY flies to Paris to SEARCH for her, & eventually also goes to MONTE CARLO to seek her out & convince her of his love...

...  What will happen when CORY shows up & talks to Katie?...  

...  What will occur when the “REAL” Cordelia suddenly shows up unexpectedly in Monte Carlo?...

...  What will happen concerning the AUCTION, & what will transpire between the GIRLS & their latest “amours”?...

...  Yes, the story is “FLUFFY” in many ways, & the “coincidences” (of thinking Serena is rich Cordelia, & the way Cory & Luke keep “SHOWING-UP” & easily finding the girls they like) is pretty HARD-TO-BELIEVE...

...  But, it’s designed as a teen “ROMANCE” story, the acting is actually quite EFFECTIVE (especially considering the inherent “limitations” of the script plots), & thus I’m rating this at 7.0 out of 10 stars (which will likely be especially enjoyed by young women)...

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