‘Monte Carlo’ is a short stress buster getaway for the weekend; it revolves around the life of a teen, her friend and her step sister. 

A gal-pal comedy, it follows a typical Texas girl travelling to her dream destination – ‘Paris’ – where she is mistaken as a spoiled British heiress.

Opening the narrative is Grace (Selena Gomez), a Texas native and part-time waitress who saves funds from her job in order to take a trip to France after graduating from high school. She leaves with her friend Emma (Katie Cassidy) and her older step sister Meg (Leighton Meester), with whom she’s being forced to spend time by her mother and Grace’s step father. 

Meg is a middle-class, brittle girl who is looking for an understanding partner – one who could help her heal. Emma is a feisty woman who is caustic and laid back. 

 They initially don’t get along very well, especially after Grace’s eagerly awaited vacation to Paris is derailed when Emma and Meg’s divergent viewpoints cause them to miss their tour bus. 

In contrast to many other movies, this one picks up momentum all at once, like a straight line going up in a split second. 

Grace, who isn’t interested in reviewing her process up at the moment, runs into a posh hotel drenched in rain, where they see Cordilia Winthropscott (Selena Gomez), a spoilt British heiress, who resembles quite like Grace.

Cordelia, a billionaire British heiress and pampered brat, has a lot of attitude for such a youngster. She encounters Emma, and Meg in the same restroom. Grace, who overheard Cordelia’s domineering attitude on the phone, emerges from the restroom sobbing and remarks thus on Cordelia’s attitude: “Who’s that nut case, who does she think she is?” only to discover that what ensues is the best lifetime offer a young francophile could possibly receive.

Grace is mistaken for the heiress by everyone in Paris, who subsequently offer her a luxurious stay and paid vacation, which she eventually accepts as a result of her naïve joy.

However, her good girl attitude gets everyone doubting if there are some dissimilarities with the typical Cordelia, but nobody could quite put the finger on it – except Cordelia’s aunt who eventually learns about it and shares her counterfeit version to keep it a secret,  as everyone is present at a charity dinner where Cordelia’s pricey neck piece is being auctioned off.  

Her good girl demeanour, however, is what makes everyone fall in love and helps her character in the conclusion. 

‘Monte Carlo’ was originally a Jules Bass book called ‘Headhunters’, which was then written by Mr. Bezucha, April Blair, and Maria Maggenti (Kelly Bowe has the story credit) – four New Jersey homeowners who travel abroad while feigning wealth and getting along with some male talent are the focus of the original plot. 

However , after going through a review process, it seems more juvenilized, producing more content with standards and ideals, along with some fairytale features that hardly ever actually occur in reality. The three female stars in this movie are taking the one opportunity they have to atone for past traumas, which offers them a new outlook on life and love. 

The beauty in this movie is when each of them finds and realises their man — a partner for each one — from Grace spending a lot of time with Theo (Pierre Boulanger), the Frenchman who is introduced as Cordelia’s main assistance, to Meg meeting Riley (Luke Bracey), an Australian who bonds with her over shared traumas and interests and heals her from within; and finally Owen (Cory Allan Michae), Emma’s first love who travels great miles to propose her. The audience learns important principles from the journeys it took for them to recognize their actual feelings.

Selena’s dual portrayal was a bold attempt because it takes flexibility and patience for an actor to get into the suite of two quite different characters. Selena could carry it off elegantly, but the only thing barring her from coming off as a brat-like figure are her lovely facial features. 

The remaining components of this movie are all glitzy, lavish, and fancy expensive outfits and locations.