Anne Fontaine’s clever genre-bender is a romantic satire that achieves a delicate balance of motivation and risk/reward or punishment on the social stage of its French Riviera town. Fabrice Luchini is Bertrand Beauvois, a nearly over-the-hill French attorney soaking up Monaco’s local atmosphere while defending Edith Lassalle (Stephane Audran), a wealthy murderess in a high-profile trial. Bertrand is surprised to find that his client’s son has hired bodyguard Christophe (Roschdy Zem) to protect him from any outside interference during the trial.
But it’s when a sexy local television weather girl named Audrey (Louise Bourgoin) insinuates herself into Bertrand’s otherwise well-ordered world that clouds of jealousy and pending doom creep across the sunny Monaco skies. Bertrand finds out the hard way about Christophe and Audrey, two lower-class Monaco residents attempting to fast-track their way into the town’s impossibly rich milieu.
The Girl from Monaco is a shrewd film that maintains a subtle layer of suspense before releasing its narrative trap. Grade: B-
Opens July 31. Check out theaters and show times, see the film’s trailer and find nearby bars and restaurants here.
This article appears in Jul 29 – Aug 4, 2009.