Monte Carlo



Monte Carlo is a 2011 American romantic comedy film directed by Thomas Bezucha. Denise Di Novi, Alison Greenspan, Nicole Kidman, and Arnon Milchan produced the film for Fox 2000 Pictures and Regency Enterprises. It began production in Harghita, Romania on May 5, 2010. Monte Carlo stars Selena Gomez, Leighton Meester and Katie Cassidy as three friends posing as wealthy socialites in Monte Carlo, Monaco. The film was released on July 1, 2011. It features the song "Who Says" by Selena Gomez & the Scene and numerous songs by British singer Mika.

Plot
Grace Bennett is a Texas high-school student who works as a waitress with her best friend Emma Perkins to earn money for a trip to Paris after graduation. Grace's stepfather pays for her stepsister Meg Kelly come with them on the trip, Emma goes to Paris despite her boyfriend Owen proposing marriage to persuade her to stay. After being left behind by their tour guide, the three girls seek refuge from the Paris rain in a posh hotel. There, the hotel staff and paparazzi mistake Grace for celebutante British heiress Cordelia Winthrop-Scott, Grace's double, who leaves rather than stay to attend an auction for a Romanian charity for which she is to donate an expensive Bulgari necklace. The Americans spend the night in Cordelia's suite, and the next day fly to Monte Carlo with Cordelia's luggage. At Monte Carlo the girls meet Theo Marchand, the son of the philanthropist hosting Cordelia. Theo dislikes Cordelia's spoiled nature but escorts them to a ball, where Grace successfully fools Cordelia's aunt Alicia and Emma dances with a prince. Meg reunites with Riley, an Australian backpacker she briefly met in Paris. They find they have things in common, and spend time together before he leaves for Italy. After Grace is unable to play polo well, Alicia discovers the impersonation. Believing that her spoiled niece hired a lookalike to take her place while she parties, and not wishing to disrupt the charity auction, Alicia threatens Grace to successfully continue the impersonation or be arrested. Theo is attracted to "Cordelia's" pleasant personality, while Emma's prince invites her to a party on a yacht. Emma briefly wears Cordelia's necklace before giving it to Meg for safekeeping, but at the yacht dislikes the prince's arrogance toward the servants and leaves. Cordelia arrives in Monte Carlo, as does Owen, hoping to reconcile with Emma. After reading the newspaper regarding Grace's appearance at the ball, Cordelia discovers the impersonation. She finds that the necklace is missing as Meg forgot to retrieve it from Riley's backpack before he left France, and calls the police. The girls fail to placate an angry Cordelia; although Riley discovers and returns the necklace, Cordelia threatens to withdraw the necklace from the auction. To prevent this, the girls tie Cordelia up so Grace can again impersonate her for the auction. Cordelia escapes, and reveals Grace's fraud at the auction. She demands that Grace be arrested, but after Grace's sincere public confession Alicia bids the unexpectedly large amount of €6 million for the necklace to save her. The film ends with Meg joining Riley on his travel around the world; Owen and Emma moving into their own home in Texas; and Theo Marchand and Grace reuniting at the Romanian charity.

Cast

 * 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
 * Brett Cullen as Robert Kelly
 * Giulio Berruti as Prince Domenico Da Silvano

Release
Monte Carlo has received negative reviews from critics. Rotten Tomatoes reports that 38% of 88 reviews were positive, as well as a 43 metascore at  Metacritic. Ben Sachs of Chicago Reader claimed that "the movie hits a surprising range of emotional grace notes, including several moments of genuine regret, and concludes with an understated moral lesson about the value of self-respect over social status." Sandie Chen of  Common Sense Media said the film was "silly, but sweet.

" Fox Home Entertainment released  Monte Carlo on  DVD and  Blu-ray Disc on October 18, 2011. The DVD extras include deleted scenes, a feature titled "Ding Dang Delicious: The Boys of Monte Carlo", a "Backstage Pass" and a theatrical trailer. The Blu-ray Disc features all the DVD features plus the addition of "Monte Carlo Couture", "Jet Setter's Dream", "Gossip With the Girls" and a  digital copy of the film.