Monte Carlo (2011)

Three young women vacationing in Paris find themselves whisked away to Monte Carlo after one of the girls is mistaken for a British heiress.

Director:

Thomas Bezucha

Writers:

Thomas Bezucha (screenplay), April Blair (screenplay),

Stars:

Selena Gomez, Katie Cassidy, Leighton Meester

4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Selena Gomez	...	Grace Bennett / Cordelia Winthrop Scott
Katie Cassidy	...	Emma Perkins
Leighton Meester	...	Mary 'Meg' Kelly
Cory Monteith	...	Owen Andrews
Andie MacDowell	...	Pam Bennett-Kelly
Brett Cullen	...	Robert Kelly
Amanda Fairbank-Hynes	...	Amanda
Joe Camp III	...	Carl at Diner
Luke Bracey	...	Riley
Valérie Lemercier	...	Madame Valerie
Franck de la Personne	...	Manager at Grand Belle
Máté Haumann	...	Concierge at Grand Belle
István Göz	...	Doorman at Grand Belle
Attila Árpa	...	Security at Grand Belle
Joël Lefrançois	...	Manager at Le Petite Sommeil

Storyline

A young woman, her uptight step sister and her best friend use their savings for a long anticipated dream trip to Paris, which turns out to be a big disappointment. When they decide to take a break from their lousy tour and duck into the lobby of a luxury hotel, one of them is mistaken for a spoiled British heiress. Before they get the chance to reveal their true identities they are wrapped up in misadventures during a vacation to Monte Carlo instead.

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Plot Keywords:

hotel | monte carlo | young woman | cell phone | misunderstanding | 

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Taglines:

She's having the time of someone else's life.

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Genres:

Adventure | Comedy | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for brief mild language

Details

Country:

USA Hungary

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 July 2011 (USA)

Also Known As:

Princesa por accidente

Filming Locations:

Budapest, Hungary

Box Office

Budget:

$20,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$8,588,318 (USA) (1 July 2011)

Gross:

$23,179,303 (USA) (23 September 2011)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Fox 2000 Pictures, Regency Enterprises, DiNovi Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

109 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Datasat

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The production spent four days filming in Paris and two weeks filming in Monaco. The rest of the filming took place in Hungary with Budapest doubling for Paris and Monte Carlo. Raleigh Studios Budapest was used to substitute for Monte Carlo's Hotel de Paris for the filming.

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Goofs

The airport stamps in passports of Meg, Grace and Emma are dated June 19, 2010. The stamp in Owen's passport is from June 22, 2010. However, when Owen arrives to Monte Carlo, he shows the issue of the newspapers from June 10, 2010 featuring Emma, Grace and Meg on the front page.

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Quotes

Grace: I finally meet a guy who likes me for me. And I'm not even me.

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Connections

Referenced in Estrenos Críticos: ¡...con Phineas & Ferb! (2011)

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Soundtracks

"Who Says"
Written by Emmanuel Kiriakou and Priscilla Hamilton
Produced by The Stereotypes
Performed by Selena Gomez (as Selena Gomez & The Scene)

User Reviews

Monte Carlo: A contrived fairy tale that's been done before and better.

Selena Gomez stars as an optimistic teen from Texas in this comedy...now I use the word comedy loosely since unless you're under the age of twelve, it's doubtful that you'll ever physically laugh while viewing this film. Gomez's Grace has been saving pennies for years while working a thankless waiting job and attending her high school classes. Finally a graduate, she and her best friend, Emma, played by the strikingly beautiful Katie Cassidy, are off to Paris for a vacation of a lifetime. But no fairy-tale is complete without the unwanted stepsister tagging alone, this time portrayed by Leighton Meester.

In what could have offered some comedic moments but somehow failed to, the girls realize their tour of Paris just doesn't live up to expectations. Add that with the fact Grace and Emma aren't exactly fond of Grace's uptight stepsister, the vacation is a nightmare to the girls. Luckily, this is where the magic comes in and it is discovered that Grace has an identical look-alike who happens to stroll into the hotel where the girls are. Add some cheesy contrivances and a few unbelievable plot twists and bam! The girls find themselves on a private jet to Monte Carlo, where Grace will be posing as her snotty doppleganger Cordelia.

The girls then go into romantic individual story lines, each one more dull and pointless than the next. Grace's romance with French socialite Theo evolves at a rapid and completely unrelatable pace. He literally dislikes her one second and then decides that because she likes horses that she's "different" and the one for him. They briefly check out some fireworks and fall for each other without exchanging so much as an e-mail address. Emma must decide between a snooty guy she meets who rarely speaks and is played by an unknown actor or her sweet Texan boyfriend played by popular Glee heartthrob Cory Monteith. Gee, I wonder who she will choose in the end? The most intriguing relationship as far as romance goes to Meg and Riley. Riley is a forward Australian mate who manages to open up Meg's hard exterior and help her come to terms with her mother's passing while they fall for each other. Their romance has a slight adventurous quality to it that's somewhat redeemable.

The thing about Monte Carlo is that while it's not horrifically offensive, it's hardly passable for entertainment. It's dull, long, boring, and stretched out over practically two hours in a simple and cheesy story that could've been handled in 90 minutes. Gomez, who has a great sense of comedic timing and charisma that she showcases on her poorly written Disney Channel series Wizards of Waverly Place, won me over on a show that's just not good, so it's unfortunate that she has yet to find a film that will truly utilize her skills and allow her to showcase her true star potential to the world. Hopefully she'll be given further chances after this failure. Leighton and Katie are also very likable in their roles, but the film's weak script and lack of comedy can't save this dull film. Despite all of the above, the scenery is gorgeous and the three young actresses are not to blame for this poor excuse for a romantic comedy. Especially when there are great family films out there featuring female leads that cover all age-groups such as Disney's Tangled.