Mona Lisa Smile Movie Review:


“Mona Lisa Smile” strives to be an emotion filled story about women’s roles during the 1950’s or the era of Eisenhower, but the outcome is a flimsy uneven film. Katherine Watson (Julia Roberts) is an independent woman that has just landed a job as art history professor at the renowned Wellesley College during the mid-1950’s. The college is an all-women school that nurtures perfection and skillful academics. However, the school is ran by its alumni and believes that women should receive an education, but after getting married, they should do nothing but be a housewife. This is where Katherine and the college’s opposing values clash. Her class is may up of many students, but the film only focuses on a selected few. The first is Joan (Julia Stiles), who has recently gotten engaged, but Katherine urges her to pursue her dream of continuing her education at Yale Law School on top of being a housewife. Connie (Ginnifer Goodwin) is the underachiever that is looking for love and Giselle sees sex as natural (Maggie Gyllenhaal) by even having flings with her Italian professor Bill Dunbar (Dominic West). On the other hand, Dunbar is intrigued by Katherine and begins to try and break her mold. The antagonist for Katherine more than the school itself is the snickering Betty Warren (Kirsten Dunst), who is a prodigy of the school that believes since she has recently married class is secondary. The art taught in the class comes into play as a parallel to the characters’ conflicts, in which the title of the film refers to looking past the paint of the famous Mona Lisa painting.

It has been stated already, but it is valid that this film so wants to give off the same emotions as Peter Weir’s “Dead Poets Society.” However, “Mona Lisa Smile” attempts to leave a lump in the audience’s throat, but comes nowhere close, due to misguidance, stale characters, and reaching for things that just are not there in the film.

Mike Newell is a fine director, with his credits including “Four Weddings and a Funeral” and “Donnie Brasco.” His work in this film is a little more than mediocre, with nothing extravagant at all. The film opens beautifully, with many of Wellesley’s interior shots being perfectly lit, but the feelings and pay off in the film slip away and never recover. The characters feel emotions throughout the film, but there are times in question as to where the emotion comes from. More unbalance is also due to the interjections and counter actions towards the emotions. An example comes towards the end of the film with a terrible scene where Betty screams at Giselle for her sexual ways. The ending itself is also Newell’s attempt at a “O Captain, My Captain” moment, but it does not come anywhere close due to its clumsiness.

Most of the film’s problems come from the screenplay by Lawrence Konner & Mark Rosenthal. The story itself is about femininity and women’s roles during the 1950s along with the argument from two sides. The one aspect that was contrite from the script is that both sides of the argument of women’s roles are accepted or balanced by the end of the film. However, the first half of the film keeps drilling its one sided argument over and over again. There are also continuos inconsistencies and cliches that arise throughout the film. The notion of a tragedy builds up anticipation do to the other cliches, but fortunately there never is one. The characters deliver a few chuckles, mostly by Marcia Gay Harden’s television loving character Nancy. The script for the film itself is dismal and hardly competent.

Julia Roberts plays Katherine the way she has play most of her characters in her career with many smiles and “I told you so” looks, her performance is modest at best. Kirsten Dunst is over the top and more than anything irritating as the prolific Betty. Julia Stiles develops a properly spoken voice and is genuine with her role as Joan. The scene-stealer and really one joy of this entire film is the talented Maggie Gyllenhaal as Giselle. Gyllenhaal is the one actress and character that the audience should have been treated to see more of. Marcia Gay Harden is terrific as Katherine’s roommate Nancy and Dominic West is suitable as the charming Italian professor Bill Dunbar.

“Mona Lisa Smile” is a film that could have been so much more than what it is. The concepts of the 1950’s and women’s roles are presented well, but the film itself misses. There is no real feeling throughout the film due to so many missteps, in which a story of this nature should have been enduring for audiences; instead it is rather below average.

Grade: C-

Joseph Tucker

You start to worry when a usually reliable director like Newell (Four Weddings, Donnie Brasco) unleashes a film so awash in sickeningly sweet sentimentality. This is a girly Dead Poets Society, covering the 1953-54 school year at Boston's posh Wellesley women's college. Katherine Watson (Roberts) is the new arts teacher from (shock!) California, struggling to prove herself to both the overachieving students and the supercilious staff. The story centres on four students: the arrogant troublemaker (Dunst), the strong-willed brain (Stiles), the naughty rebel (Gyllenhaal) and the needy good girl (Goodwin). Katherine finds some friends in the faculty--landlady Nancy (Harden), who teaches elocution and poise; the scandalous school nurse (Stevenson); a sexy Italian teacher (West). But she also makes enemies through her unconventional teaching style, which challenges the girls to think for themselves.

This film is so heartwarming that it makes Patch Adams look gritty and raw. To the strains of Rachel Portman's swirly score, shafts of pollen-dappled sunshine bisect each pastel-painted scene. There's not a harsh colour in sight; the film is full of picture postcard images of autumn, winter and spring in New England, where everyone walks around in impeccably colour-matched outfits, made-up and hair-sprayed to within an inch of their lives. It's so nauseatingly perfect that you long for a serial killer to rampage through the campus! Even the sad/tough moments are beautiful ... and full of Important Life Lessons. But despite the Dead Poets similarities (including not one but three "Captain My Captain" moments), the script is full of interesting situations and characters, all very well played. Harden once again shines above the ensemble as the fiercely askew Nancy, investing the character with telling detail and moving moments that actually make her the heart of the film, despite strong work from the actors around her. Dunst is excellent in the most thankless role, while Roberts is as watchable as ever, although she's asked to flash that 20-million-dollar smile far too often. There are also excellent themes and issues in here, but the soft preciousness effectively drowns them out in the end. If you like chintz, you'll love this. Otherwise, consider yourself warned. And I'll start worrying now about the fact that Newell's directing Harry Potter 4.

Rich Cline

1953, Katherine Watson (Roberts) has landed her dream job at Wellesley Girls College and her chance to influence the best female minds in the US. Teaching art history, Katherine sees this as an opportunity to open up the girl’s minds, enabling them to see all the possibilities that life has to offer and not just marriage and a family. The problem is that her free-spirited, Californian ways don’t exactly go down well with the facility and one certain, single-minded pupil called Betty (Dunst).

A good director, a charismatic leading actress and a collection of some of the best young American female talent are all let down by meandering and quite dull screenplay.

At nearly two hours long this is a story that fails to hold your attention however good the talent on the screen is. Set at the start of the feminist revolution when women where at last starting to have voice in a male oriented world and realising that there was more than just raising a family and being a good wife, the film offers up a story of change and empowerment by the themes are far too slight to grab your attention. When the sub plots are more enthralling than the main story then you know you have a problem.

Julia Roberts does her best with a role that doesn’t really challenge her. Where the rest of the cast fit into the 50s era, Roberts seems out of place by two decades feeling and looking more like a new age hippy than post war teacher. She is supposed to be a strong willed woman, fighting for change in how women are perceived in society but she just comes across as someone who has had visions of the future or has travelled back to try and change this.

Her supporting cast fair a lot better however. The stories of the four main students unintentionally become the driving force of the movie. Kirsten Dunst reminds you what a great dramatic actress she can be with a standout turn as Betty, the girl who see marriage as the only safe option in a woman’s life. It exposes a wicked side to her craft and could open he up to more villainous roles in the future. Maggie Gyllenhaal’s career continues to go from strength to strength with another standout performance. As the man-eater of the group Giselle, she excels in a role that would have stolen all of your attention if the screenplay had better served the character. You only get glimpses into the complexities of her but it is to Gyllenhaal’s credit that you notice them at all. Julia Stiles profile continues to grow as Joan, the student with the most potential and the possibility of a great future. This is an ideal role for the talented young actress to showcase again what she can do. Relative newcomer Ginnifer Goodwin almost steals the show as the nervous and self-conscious Connie, whose story of personal growth is probably the most uplifting of the group.

There is also good support from Dominic West as lothario Bill Dunbar and Marcia Gay Harden as Nancy, Katherine overbearing and proper landlady.

What ‘Mona Lisa Smile’ lacks is an engaging lead narrative that will keep you interested until the slightly rushed finale. Enjoyable in parts with good performances and the subplots do their best to add some stimulation but this is not the female version of “Dead Poets Society’ that the trailer may have suggested.

Star Rating = * *

Jamie Kelwick

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