Stars: Selena Gomez, Leighton Meester, Katie Cassidy, Cory Monteith, Pierre Boulanger, Luke Bracey, Catherine Tate, Andie MacDowell, Brett Cullen
Director: Thomas Bezucha
Running time:104 mins

GRACE Bennett (Selena Gomez) graduates from high school and looks forward expectantly to a trip to Paris in the company of best friend Emma (Katie Cassidy).

However, Grace’s parents Robert (Brett Cullen) and Pamela (Andie MacDowell) are worried that Emma will be a bad influence so they pay for step-sister Meg (Leighton Meester) to join the European expedition.

At the Eiffel Tower, they are left behind by their tour guide and seek sanctuary from the rain in a five-star hotel where Grace is mistaken for celebrity Cordelia Winthrop-Scott (Gomez again).

Emma persuades Grace to carry on the deception. They head for Monte Carlo where the real Cordelia is due to auction a diamond necklace to raise funds for a children’s charity. There, Grace – posing as Cordelia – falls for Theo (Pierre Boulanger), while Meg becomes smitten with hunky Australian backpacker Riley (Luke Bracey) and Emma realises that her heart belongs to her Texan boyfriend, Owen (Cory Monteith).

Monte Carlo is frothy and inoffensive entertainment for young, undemanding audiences, who are content to be spoon-fed emotions and to believe that every girl gets her Prince Charming in the end.

Director Thomas Bezucha keeps the tone light and breezy, complementing the perky performances with a bouncy orchestral soundtrack courtesy of Michael Giacchino.