She-devil with the blue dress on
The Girl From Monaco
Running time: 95 minutes
MPAA rating: R (profanity, extreme adult situations, nudity)
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"The Girl From Monaco" is a playfully naughty French postcard in cinematic form.
In no uncertain terms and sometimes with disastrous consequences, co-writer/director Anne Fontaine's comic-drama fills the screen with a singular message: the hypnotic power of a beautiful she-devil over men of, shall we say, a certain age.
In French with subtitles, "The Girl From Monaco" deals with the social trap men (and women too) can find themselves in when they begin to think with their libidos instead of their brains.
Veteran French actor Fabrice Luchini portrays Bertrand, a celebrity attorney. A master of words in a courtroom, Bertrand is putty in the hands of a local Monaco TV weather girl named Audrey (newcomer Louise Bourgoin).
Fontaine ("Dry Cleaning," "Oh la la"), who also wrote this sometimes playful, but often dangerous comic-drama, goes beyond just investigating the way a woman with no qualms or morals can manipulate even a learned man who's smitten -- and perhaps blinded -- by beauty.
Ironically, Bourgoin, who appears completely at ease and without inhibition in front of the camera as Audrey, was actually working as a TV cable weather woman when she won the role.
I have no idea if Fontaine had the darkly comic "Little Shop of Horrors" in mind when she named her femme fatale Audrey. Serious film buffs may find some amusing resemblances between the "Monaco" Audrey and the man-eating plant dubbed Audrey II in "Little Shop of Horrors," however.
Prolific French actor Roschdy Zem takes on the stoic role of Christophe. Christophe is hired as Bertrand's bodyguard while he's in Monaco defending a 70-year-old accused murderess. Christophe, whose approach to women is earthy and to the point, is a direct contrast to Bertrand. His cerebral nature usually results in Bertrand over thinking every situation.
Playful at times, dangerous at others and intriguing throughout, "The Girl From Monaco" makes very good use of all three lead characters as it divides screen time between days in the formal courtroom and wild nights in the discos, bars and bedrooms of Monaco.
Some surprises and a little French farce are thrown in for good measure as Fontaine uses comic nonsense and quirks to vigorously stir the extremely offbeat relationship pot.
"The Girl From Monaco" will delight and befuddle at times, but it will never bore.
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