58) Monte Carlo

Title:  Monte Carlo

Writer:  Kelly Bowe

Producers: Nicole Kidman, Denise Di Novi, Arnon Milchan; & Alison Greenspan

Director:  Thomas Bezucha

Year:  2011

Plot:  Texas senior, Grace and her friend Emma work as waitresses and have saved enough money for a trip to Paris after graduation.  Grace’s stepfather offers to pay for the trip if her stepsister, Meg, will also attend.  In Paris, the girls are left by their tour on top of the Eiffel Tower.  As they try to make their way back to the hotel, it begins to rain and they seek shelter in an upscale hotel.  At the hotel, Grace is mistaken for a British Heiress and flies off to Monte Carlo to take the heiress’s place.  The girls are able to fool the hosts in Monte Carlo and are find out more about who they really are.   

Review:  This is a movie that tween girls will fall in love with.  Grace, Emma and Meg get the chance to see a part of the world and explore their true identities through a small case of mistaken identity.  When the girls arrive in Paris they are disappointed by the rush of the tour and the state of the hotel they have taken.  Then the girls are left behind and their lives are changed forever.  The heiress, Cordelia, is a snob who decides to that she would rather spend time with her friends then help at a charity event for a school in Romania.  After a night in Cordelia’s hotel suite in Paris, the girls are flown on a private jet to Monte Carlo.  In Monte Carlo, the girls each meet someone that teaches them about what they really desire in life.  Emma realizes that her longtime boyfriend in Texas is the one for her, Meg meets Riley who helps her overcome the loss of her mother, and Grace meets Theo who shows her that people with money are willing to help those without money.  The storyline is great and the love stories are innocent.  Tween girls will love this movie and want to watch it over and over again.

Genre: Movie/Humor/Coming of Age

Interest Level: ages 9 and up

Related Shows: Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants; Bride Wars; Raise Your Voice.

Starring:

Selena Gomez as Grace Ann Bennett/Cordelia Winthrop Scott

Leighton Meester as Mary Margaret "Meg" Kelly

Katie Cassidy as Emma Danielle Perkins

Pierre Boulanger as Theo Marchand

Catherine Tate as Alicia Winthrop Scott

Luke Bracey as Riley

Cory Monteith as Owen Andrews

Andie MacDowell as Pamela Bennett-Kelly

Brett Cullen as Robert Kelly

Giulio Berruti as Prince Domenico Da Silvano