La chica de Mónaco

French film "The Girl from Monaco" begins on a promising note with renowned actor Fabrice Luchini flirting with an older woman. He is unaware of the fact that this innocuous action is being watched in detail by a bodyguard whose services have been provided to him without his knowledge. This is just the commencement of a series of zany adventures involving unusual people namely a fun loving lawyer, a dedicated bodyguard and a promiscuous yet charmingly nubile weather woman. Although the title mentions the word 'Monaco' there is not much description of Monaco and its casinos. The film runs at a normal pace but gains momentum within second half when innocence is replaced by cunning. It is at that point some surprising elements are introduced to make the film appear interesting. Director Anne Fontaine has made quirky films in the past but 'The Girl From Monaco' is completely different from all her films. It tries hard to be a serious film but remains a comedy in essence. It is a film which one can watch with friends in order to have some good moments of entertainment.

This film screened at the 2009 Palm Springs Film Fest to a large, mostly receptive audience. The plot involves a Parisian attorney who travels to Monaco to defend a woman accused of murder. On arriving he finds that he's been assigned a bodyguard who becomes a major part of the story. He also rather quickly finds himself becoming involved with locals, among them an aggressive young female who does the weather on a local TV channel but has much higher aspirations. Without giving away too much of the story, this film seems to go deeper than it appears on the surface. It seemed to me to be an allegory to the state of affairs in France and many other places in the world. The loss of common decency and higher standards is a threat to our existence. The lawyer is a straight arrow old school fellow, with high ethics, who becomes seduced by a woman with all the trappings of modern society. She and her friends have little regard for what's right or wrong and just live for the moment, with little thought about the consequences. The movie is enjoyable to watch, even if you're not interested in subplots or extra meaning, but this one is full of room for discussion after you leave the theater.

My laugh meter was in constant activity throughout this film, one of the most entertaining French comedies of recent years. Anne Fontaine's witty script and assured direction gave me a lot of pleasure. The first scene between Fabrice Luchini and Hélène de Saint-Père--that amorous banter out of Marivaux--set the tone for me. Luchini is at the top of his form now, much stronger than he was in La Discrète or Beaumarchais l'insolent. He portrays the erotic confusion of the middle-aged man so well. Roschdy Zem, so often used as ethnic content in his films, here provides us with the (almost) definitive portrait of the loyal servant with his own agenda (cf. Dirk Bogarde in The Servant). Louise Bourgoin has a great natural comic flair that will serve her well in future roles (she outshines that other comic weather girl Michelle Pfeiffer in Up Close and Personal).

Anne Fontaine has given me so much satisfaction over the last ten years: I think of Nettoyage à sec, Comment J'ai tué mon père, Nathalie... She is a stalwart of the French film industry.

La Fille de Monaco starts out as a comedy and ends up in a disturbing but well done drama. I don't consider this a fault; Romeo and Juliet is also of this structure. If you come in expecting this to be a light comedy, you will enjoy the first hour and then be woefully disappointed, but if you expect to be drawn in by laughter and brought into a darker movie, you will find beauty in the craftsmanship of this film.

The main parts of Bertrand (Fabrie Luchini), security guard Christophe (Roschdy Zem) hippie/loose Audrey (Louise Bourgoin) were well chosen and well acted.

The movie is one of the best I've seen for a dramatization of the "overly sexual woman develops complete power over a respected man" dynamic. It was believable, and because of that, disturbing. In other words, a good film.

I read the reviews on iIMDb before watching the movie so that I knew what to expect, and, thus, I was not disappointed. One very positive thing about it is that it was not boring. In addition, thanks to my local public library, I saw the movie for free (unless I count the thousands of dollars I pay each year in property taxes that go to my local school and library system).Therefore, I gave the movie 7 out of 10 points.