Monte Carlo Information

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

Production

Monte Carlo is loosely based on the novel Headhunters by Jules Bass. The novel tells the story of four young Texas women who pretend to be wealthy heiresses while searching for rich potential husbands in Monte Carlo. There, they meet four gigolos posing as wealthy playboys. Fox bought the film rights to the novel in 1999, three years prior to the novel's publication. In 2005, Hollywood trade magazine Variety announced that siblings Jez and John Henry Butterworth would be writing the script. It also reported that actress Nicole Kidman had signed on to play the lead as well as produce the film with Rick Schwartz.

The Butterworths were later fired and Tom Bezucha was hired to direct and co-write Monte Carlo. Bezucha and Maria Maggenti turned in a draft of the screenplay by July 2007; it starred Kidman as "one of three Midwestern schoolteachers who decide to ditch a disappointing no-frills holiday in Paris and pose as wealthy women vacationing in Monaco". However, in 2010, executives had the film rewritten again after deciding that the film should be made more youthful. The updated script was co-written by Bezucha and April Blair, and changed the three school teachers to two college students and a recent high-school graduate. Monte Carlo was shot in Budapest, Hungary; Dunakeszi, Hungary; Paris, France; Harghita, Romania; and Monte Carlo, Monaco. It began filming in Harghita on May 5, 2010, and wrapped on July 7, 2010. It is the first film to use the film studio, Raleigh Studios Budapest.

In March 2010, it was announced that Selena Gomez had been cast as one of the film's leads following the script's rewrite. For the role, Gomez spent several weeks learning to play polo, and practicing how to fake an English accent. Leighton Meester also negotiated a deal to one of the leads that month, and Katie Cassidy was cast as Emma in April. French actor Pierre Boulanger is made his English-speaking feature debut in the film.

Reception

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."

Accolades

Award	Category	Recipient(s)	Result
2011 Teen Choice Awards	Choice Summer Movie		rowspan=4
	Choice Summer Movie Star " Male	Cory Monteith
	Choice Summer Movie Star " Female	Selena Gomez
2011 ALMA Awards	Favorite Movie Actress " Comedy/Musical	Selena Gomez
Hollywood Teen TV Awards	Favorite Film Actress	Selena Gomez

Home media

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.

Soundtrack

The film's musical score was composed by Michael Giacchino. To coincide with the film's release, a soundtrack album was released by Varèse Sarabande on June 28, 2011.

No.	Title
1.	Graceful Exit
2.	What Mom Would Have Wanted
3.	Its Not Magic
4.	Feeling Eiffel
5.	Grace Under Pressure
6.	Mirror Coincidence
7.	The Seduction of Paris
8.	Along For The Ride
9.	Seizing the Moment
10.	The Full Monte Carlo
11.	One Suite Deal
12.	Junk in the Trunks
13.	Ball In
14.	Pairing Up
15.	A Little Horse (s'il vous) Play
16.	Of Another Color
17.	Dressing Up and Dressing Down
18.	Jazz Cafe
19.	Staying Classy
20.	Hotel Keys
21.	You're Goin' Places, Kid
22.	Chasing Emma
23.	Have a Nice Trip
24.	Megsmerized
25.	Cordelia Arrives
26.	Cordelia's Not So Suite
27.	Time To Go
28.	Missing Links
29.	Return Engagement
30.	Protection and (Room) Service
31.	Just Stay Here
32.	I Don't Want to Lose You
33.	It's Too Much
34.	Just A Regular Girl
35.	Almost Everyone is Happy
36.	Separate Ways
37.	Grace Be With You
38.	Of Another Color (Extended Version)
39.	Making Light
40.	Grace's Theme