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Mona Lisa Smile
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Wikipedia article
'Mona Lisa Smile' is a 2003 American drama film produced by Revolution Studios and Columbia Pictures in association with Red Om Films Productions, directed by Mike Newell, written by Lawrence Konner and Mark Rosenthal, and starring Julia Roberts, Kirsten Dunst, Julia Stiles, and Maggie Gyllenhaal. The title is a reference to the 'Mona Lisa', the famous painting by Leonardo da Vinci, and to the song of the same name, originally performed by Nat King Cole, which was covered by Seal for the movie. Julia Roberts received a record $25 million for her performance, the highest ever earned by an actress at that time.
Plot
In 1953, Katherine Ann Watson, a 30-year-old graduate student in the department of Art History at UCLA and Oakland State, takes a position teaching History of Art at Wellesley College.
At her first class, Katherine discovers her students have memorized the entire textbook and syllabus, so she introduces them to modern art and encourages discussion about what is good art. Katherine comes to know them, seeking to inspire them to achieve more than marriage.
Highly opinionated Elizabeth "Betty" Warren is outspokenly conservative. She does not understand why Katherine is not married and insists there is a universal standard for good art. She writes editorials for the college paper, exposing campus nurse Amanda Armstrong as a supplier of contraception, resulting in her termination.
Other editorials attack Katherine for advocating that women seek a career instead of being wives and mothers. Betty cannot wait to marry Spencer and expects the traditional exemptions from attending class as a married woman; however, Katherine insists she will be marked on merit.
Constance "Connie" Baker begins dating Betty's cousin, Charlie, but Betty tells her he is to marry Deb MacIntyre. Connie ends the relationship, believing Betty. However, some weeks later, Connie and Charlie reconnect, with him telling her he had stopped seeing Deb after the previous summer.
Joan Brandwyn dreams of being a lawyer and is enrolled as prelaw, so Katherine encourages her to apply to Yale Law School. Accepted, she still opts to play the traditional role of a housewife to Tom Donegal. She tells Katherine that choosing to be a wife and mother does not reduce her intelligence.
Giselle Levy has several lovers and liberal views about sex. She admires Katherine for encouraging the students to be independent. Giselle earns Betty's enmity, who is very conservative.
Katherine declines a proposal from her California boyfriend as she does not love him enough and begins seeing the Wellesley Italian professor, Bill Dunbar. He is charming and full of stories about Europe and his heroic actions in Italy during the war. He has also had affairs with students (including Giselle), and Katherine makes him promise he will stop.
The relationship progresses, but when Katherine learns that Bill spent the entire war at the Army Languages Center on Long Island, she breaks up with him. He responds that Katherine did not come to Wellesley to help the students find their way, but rather her way.
Betty's marriage falls apart after Spencer has an affair, and her mother orders her to return to her husband rather than offer support. She visits Giselle in her dorm, who comforts her. In turn, Betty regrets how she's treated Katherine with her poor behavior. Eventually, influenced by her, Betty files for divorce and looks for an apartment in Greenwich Village.
When Mrs. Warren confronts Betty for what she has done, she reveals her frustration with her mother for not supporting her when she asked for it. She says the only person who cared about her enough to help her out was Katherine. Therefore, Betty reveals she is going to have a life of her own, living with Giselle, and is considering applying to Yale Law School.
Katherine's course is highly popular, so she is invited to return, but under these conditions: she must follow the syllabus, submit lesson plans for approval and keep a strictly professional relationship with all faculty members and students.
Katherine decides to leave to explore Europe. In the final scene, Betty dedicates her last editorial to Katherine, calling her "an extraordinary woman who lived by example and compelled us all to see the world through new eyes." As she leaves in a taxi, all her students follow on their bicycles with Betty reaching to say goodbye until the taxi speeds away.
Cast
* Julia Roberts as Katherine Ann Watson
* Kirsten Dunst as Elizabeth "Betty" Warren (Jones)
* Julia Stiles as Joan Brandwyn (Donegal)
* Maggie Gyllenhaal as Giselle Levy
* Ginnifer Goodwin as Constance "Connie" Baker
* Laura Allen as Susan Delacorte
* Tori Amos as wedding singer
* Emily Bauer as a student
* Jordan Bridges as Spencer Jones
* Marcia Gay Harden as Nancy Abbey
* Lisa Roberts Gillan as Miss Albini
* Topher Grace as Tommy Donegal
* Annika Marks as a student
* Donna Mitchell as Mrs. Warren
* Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Charlie Stewart
* Lily Rabe as a student
* Krysten Ritter as a student
* Terence Rigby as Dr. Edward Staunton
* Marian Seldes as President Jocelyn Carr
* John Slattery as Paul Moore
* Juliet Stevenson as Amanda Armstrong
* Dominic West as Bill Dunbar
Soundtrack
Box office
In its first weekend, 'Mona Lisa Smile' opened at #2 at the U.S. Box office, earning $11,528,498 USD behind 'The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King'. By the end of its run, while the film had grossed $141,337,989 worldwide, its U.S. domestic gross did not meet its $65 million budget, falling short at $63,860,942.
Reception
'Mona Lisa Smile' received mixed to negative reviews from film critics. Critical aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes gives the movie a 34% "rotten" rating, based on 152 reviews, with an average rating of 4.93/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Though 'Mona Lisa Smile' espouses the value of breaking barriers, the movie itself is predictable and safe." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 45 out of 100, based on 40 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".
In a typical review, Claudia Puig of 'USA Today' wrote, "it's 'Dead Poets Society' as a chick flick, without the compelling drama and inspiration... even Roberts doesn't seem convinced. She gives a rather blah performance as if she's not fully committed to the role... Rather than being a fascinating exploration of a much more constrained time in our social history, the film simply feels anachronistic. The film deserves a solid 'C' for mediocrity and muted appeal." Critic Elizabeth M. Tamny of the 'Chicago Reader' shared this negative assessment, writing "Part of the problem is simply that 'Mona Lisa Smile' is a Hollywood film, and Hollywood isn't good at depicting the life of the mind... And Julia Roberts is no help--you either like her or you don't, but either way it has little to do with talent. She's not so much an actor as a vessel for earnest reactions. The fact is... It's easier to take on an extremely black-and-white version of the most salient question from this film--can women bake their cake and eat it too?--than try to answer it in the present."
David Ansen of 'Newsweek' wrote, "What drew the usually astute Mike Newell ('
Accolades
Reaction from Wellesley and Wellesley alumnae
The college issued an official statement explaining their decision to allow the film to shoot on campus.
In a message to Wellesley alumnae concerning the film, Wellesley College president Diana Chapman Walsh expressed regret about some of the reactions it generated, given that many alumnae from the 1950s felt that the film's portrayal of Wellesley was inaccurate.
References
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