Monte Carlo

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Myself

I had a good time with this film. I am almost surprised at how genuinely enjoyable this was. I hesitate to label it trashy, like Chalet Girl, it feels a little classier than that but again that's probably only due to the european setting. This film has even less "silly" moments than Chalet Girl, despite its hoaky mistake identity premise.

While that is the main plot line, each of the three girls on holiday has their own romantic story that could have easily been the main plot of any other teen romance, plus there are a few other things thrown in for good measure and yet the film juggles all these threads exceptionally well. It keeps the pace moving and makes what are usually the supportive best friend characters just as important and fleshed out as the main character. I noticed it was adapted from a novel, so I presume the screenwriters had some good material to draw from.

The cast all do a good job. Andie MacDowell shows up in a 5 minute cameo at the beginning and looks as stunning as ever. Catherine Tate is also on hand to save the day. The girls are all fine and the guys are all handsome. Home and Away stars with strong Aussie accents must seem so enticing to american and european audiences but that accent just always seems out of place to me.

From the trailer I thought this would be more of a silly holiday farce but while it does have all those elements firmly in place and is quite funny in places there's a small slither of something genuine at the heart of this. Or I could be completely insane. Whatever the case, I really did enjoy this film and might have to see it again to make sure I just wasn't delirious at the time.