The Girl from Monaco

Anne Fontaine's dramedy aims for a bittersweet tone, but both the comedy and the drama come across as forced. Despite the title, the actual protagonist is a brilliant French lawyer, Bertrand (Fabrice Luchini), brought to Monaco to defend Edith (Stephane Audran), a woman charged with killing a young Russian who'd become part of her household and presumably her lover. Because the dead man's relatives pose a threat, the lawyer is provided with a bodyguard, Christophe (Roschdy Zem); but Bertrand encounters another local—a beautiful, on-the-make weather girl named Audrey (Louise Bourgoin), who easily turns the supposedly worldly fellow into a hapless swain. Audrey introduces Bertand to her circle of anything-goes pals, and he willingly follows along, despite warnings from the street-smart bodyguard of potential danger. The bulk of the plot deals with the interrelationships among these three characters, with much of the comedy deriving not merely from the fish-out-of-water scenario centering around Bertrand, but also from his increasing camaraderie with his protector (with whom he forms a very unlikely friendship). The drama, on the other hand—while fairly muted early on—comes to the fore in the last reel, when the film goes off the rails with twists that seem less insightful than superficial. This unsteady mixture of elements ultimately makes for a movie that is only intermittently pleasurable. Optional. [Note: DVD extras include “Sequence 14: The Making of The Girl from Monaco” (18 min.), and trailers. Bottom line: a small extras package for a so-so film.] (F. Swietek)