Release Date: July 3, 2009

(out of 4)

At first glance, the girl in the French film "The Girl From Monaco" has just got to be a femme fatale. Her name is Audrey (Louise Bourgoin), and she’s the weather girl for a Monaco TV station that seemly doesn’t care if it predicts an accurate forecast. Audrey is on television because she has great natural assets. She has a seductive power over men. She is also seemingly indiscriminate. The film’s hero Bertrand Beauvois (Fabrice Luchini), a 57-year old Parisian defense attorney who has arrived in Monaco to tackle a murder case, has never been overwhelmed by women despite his subpar looks, yet he’s instantly gaga by this bubbly and sexy weather girl. They meet by chance, perhaps, but then keep running into each other.

Here’s this highly respected attorney who has never acted out irrationally before and this weather girl who starts flirting with him, toying with him. What’s her agenda? A femme fatale always has an agenda whether its reaping money or gunning for some kind of career boost. Audrey mentions that she doesn’t want to be a weather girl for too much longer, that she deserves a bigger TV gig. She doesn’t keep it as a secret for too long, nor does she hold onto other big secrets. An experienced femme fatale knows how to a fair degree remain mysterious, this way she makes the guy “chase” her so at least the guy feels he is responsible for his pursuit. The femme fatale has to know that the guy is willing to concede to make an investment of interest of some kind.

Easily Audrey makes it very easy for a klutz like Bertrand. Before he knows it Audrey is showing up every night at his hotel, sweeping Bertrand away to a club or a beach party, and at the end of the night getting naked (full exposure nudity in one scene, and brief discreet nudity in maybe two other scenes). But this relationship goes beyond the carnal. Audrey has a sincere interest in Bertrand, she gives him full emotional support and even goes beyond the call of duty: She loves pampering him, stroking his head like a puppy dog. Is it somehow possible that Audrey genuinely really likes Bertrand, this fuddy duddy? Maybe, just maybe, Audrey finds his vulnerability attractive underneath that professionally tactile veneer.

I have failed to mention yet the third essential character in this story. When Bertrand arrived in Monaco he was issued a full-time bodyguard for his protection hired by his client. Bertrand finds this silly, he has never had a bodyguard in all the years he has defended clients suspected of murder. His millionaire client Edith Lasalle (Stephane Audran) is accused of killing someone who belonged to the Russian mafia. So there is a certain possibility that the Russian mafia could target Bertrand. So silly, he thinks. The bodyguard’s name is Zem (Christophe Abadi), who remains under occupational conduct 24/7, doing surveys of the perimeter anytime when Bertrand enters a new room and always remaining 6 meters within distance of Bertrand at all times.

Betrand requests Zem to stand down and remain casual, and over a course of time the two of them establish a mutual rapport. Bertrand is amazed with Zem’s touch with women after having observed that Zem is a natural player (Zem seduces Bertrand’s former flame within five minutes at his hotel room, oddly, it was part of Bertrand’s command for him to do so). Bertrand is amazed with Zem’s vigor and composure, and wants to know the secret of life from him. In a subdued way, Bertrand sees Zem as a mentor.

As Bertrand gets more involved with Audrey, however, he doesn’t really need advice anymore from his bodyguard. In fact, Zem makes vocal warnings to Bertrand for him to not get too close to Audrey, that she’s trouble. Is Zem jealous of Bertrand’s romantic success with this Perfect 10 or is there really something legitimately imperative in his warnings? The screenplay has little self-observation, but you can’t help from chewing on with anticipation whether Audrey really is a golddigging femme fatale, or if Audrey is a mole working for the Russian mafia, or if Audrey is just using Bertrand to be part of her newsmagazine spotlight to help her move out of weather reporting, or gee, if Audrey (really?) has fallen for Bertrand for pure reasons.

Amidst all this racy tango, let’s not forget that Bertrand is supposed to be involved in a murder trial, one that he attends unprepared for because he’s up at night partying with Audrey. The murder trial, it must be said, is not all that interesting and has been patched into the storyline with marginal effort by writer-director Anne Fontaine. Yet the movie doesn’t spend a lot of time in court anyway, Fontaine seems to be smitten by the sex comedy situations and in by the dichotomy of the character relationships. The bare details of the murder trial is pedestrian, even naïve, but Fontaine keeps us guessing on what will happen between her three characters. One of the film’s most curious late surprises is seeing Zem losing his composure over Audrey, with seething disparagement he calls her a slut.

“The Girl From Monaco,” with its slack murder story and laid back pacing, can be correctly labeled as mild entertainment – it’s certainly has nevertheless a few snappy surprises and an unforeseen ending. Yet the film has to be deemed noteworthy because it announces a major talent in Louise Bourgoin as cinema’s next great sex bomb. If Bourgoin were around 50 years ago she could have given Marilyn Monroe a run for her money. Is this the beginning of a major international film star? I dunno if Bourgoin is as fluent in English as she is in French, but if she’s multi-lingual then there’s no stopping her in turning up in a major Hollywood production in a juicy role within a year or two. American movies are much more coy about nudity than French films, though, so I personally hope to keep seeing her in French productions.