Mona Lisa Smile

2003 Drama

Set in 1953, Mona Lisa Smile tells the story of Katherine Watson (Julia Roberts), a new young art history professor at Wellesley College, an all-female campus with a prestigious reputation for academic excellence. Unfortunately for free-minded Berkeley grad Watson, her East Coast teaching stint comes during a less-progressive time that finds most of her students -- among them Betty Warren (Kirsten Dunst), Joan Brandwyn (Julia Stiles), and Giselle Levy (Maggie Gyllenhaal) -- more interested in nabbing a good husband than achieving scholastic and intellectual growth. Watson challenges her students and the Wellesley faculty to think outside of the current mores of the community and redefine what it means to be a success; meanwhile, she tries to come to terms with her own heart's desires. Mona Lisa Smile co-stars Marcia Gay Harden, Juliet Stevenson, and, as Watson's conflicting love interests, Dominic West and John Slattery. more..

Director: Mike Newell

Starring: Julia Roberts,Kirsten Dunst, Julia Stiles, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Ginnifer Goodwin

 31 Reviews  5 Awards

Reviews

  • The characters involve us, we sympathize with their dreams and despair of their matrimonial tunnel vision, and at the end we are relieved that we listened to Miss Watson and became the wonderful people who we are today.

    Roger Ebert - The Chicago Sun-Times

    26 April 2013

  • The reliable Mike Newell directs Mona Lisa Smile with such assurance that the important moments are never mawkish or dull, and he encourages the women to act with absolute conviction.

    Wesley Morris - The Boston Globe

    26 April 2013

  • For all its flaws, its obvious if irrelevant similarity to "Dead Poets Society," it lets us spend some quality time with some of the finest actresses in American film as they give energetic life to one of the most radically underrepresented minorities in Hollywood: the intelligent woman.

    Manohla Dargis - Los Angeles Times

    26 April 2013

  • There's a spark missing, and where it's missing is in Roberts' conscientious but all too reserved performance.

    Mick LaSalle - The San Francisco Chronicle

    26 April 2013

  • Rather than being a fascinating exploration of a much more constrained time in our social history, the film simply feels anachronistic.

    Claudia Puig - USA Today

    26 April 2013

Awards

  • Best Song

    Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards (2004)

     

  • Best Original Song - Motion Picture

    Golden Globes (2004)

     

  • Best Use of Previously Published or Recorded Music

    Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards (2004)

     

  • Best Original Song

    Satellite Awards (2004)

     

  • Choice Movie Actress - Drama/Action Adventure

    Teen Choice Awards (2004)

     

Lists

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