Movie: Mona Lisa Smile

Actors: Julia Roberts, Julia Stiles, Kirsten Dunst, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Juliet Stevenson, Ginnifer Goodwin, Dominic West
Director: Mike Newell, Producer: Elaine Goldsmith, Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas, Paul Schiff, Deborah Schindler

Mona Lisa Smile is the story of a woman, who happens to be living in the early nineteen fifties. Katherine Watson (Julia Roberts) is a Berkeley graduate who arrives at the women`s college, Wellesley to teach Art History. Initially her students try to outsmart their teacher, which is a little surprising for her however she does not let them know about it. But what really frustrates her is the knowledge that all that most of her students at Wellesley aspire for is a wonderful husband and do not care to pursue the kind of professions she believes they are capable of.

Julia Stiles plays Joan Brandwyn who ends up admiring her teacher who is generally mocked at because of unusual character. She looks up to her and considers her advice but like her teacher she has developed the ability to think freely and disregards her teacher’s suggestion for her own wish and how she wants to be. Maggie Gyllenhaal plays Giselle Levy who, unlike the other girls, realizes from the beginning the strength of her teacher’s personality. Kirsten Dunst however plays a testing student who has gotten married while being a scholar at Wellesley. She thoroughly dislikes her teacher and is quite spiteful whenever speaking with or about her. The unmarried status of Ms. Watson is what offends some of her students and most of the faculty at Wellesley as this makes her look like an unorthodox, subversive, and a liberal woman according to the standards of the time. The faculty thinks of her as a negative inspiration for the Wellesley girls and therefore is looking for an excuse to get rid of her. Though they do not find her as easy as Amanda Armstrong (played by Juliet Stevenson) who was requested to leave for the fact that she commonly made available contraceptives to the Wellesley girls which according to the college’s administration is a breach of the state’s law. Watson is all the while aware how fragile her reputation at the college is, chiefly for no other reason than her being not married. But she has her way with things and by the end she is able to make her students realize how seriously they should take their own lives. Her innately good nature prompts even Betty Warren (Kirsten Dunst), who has been turned down by her mother after a failure for a marriage, to seek help from her teacher when she decides to file for a divorce and Katherine proves herself a passionate educator who imagines her students as the ends in her own self.

While there has been quite some cheerleading done for the movie, it has also been said that this movie is a repetition of the Dead Poets Society, with girls instead of boys, and an art teacher instead of a literature teacher. The movie has its engaging moments but on the whole it’s not the kind of movie you would think you have never seen before. What make the movie as interesting as it is, are the vibrant performances by some of the best young actresses today.