Rather than becoming the character, she feels like a modern movie star playing the part, and that hampers a sizable part of the film's efforts. While a great deal of that stems from the story and character elements concocted by screenwriters Lawrence Konner & Mark Rosenthal ("Planet of the Apes," "Mighty Joe Young"), at least as much or more of the fault lies squarely on Roberts' shoulders. Simply put, the beloved, popular and talented actress simply doesn't fit into the proceedings, thus creating that time traveler feel. While this offering thankfully doesn't delve into the latter, it certainly strains credibility at times.Īnd I'm sad to report that much of that has to do with Roberts (Ocean's Eleven," "America's Sweethearts") and the way in which her character has been crafted and played. Yet, and despite all of the obvious best intentions of being an inspirational film that promotes accomplishment and self-reliance, making a period film with such modern sensibilities could seem a bit disingenuous if not ridiculous.
I'm all for examining history and cultural mores with 20/20 hindsight, particularly when it proves that some of today's social rules and beliefs might be just as wrong as others were in the past. Now that I think about it, that might have made for a more believable picture than what we've been offered here.ĭon't get me wrong. She's appears to have done so to educate the uninformed about the pending error of their and society's ways and obviously learn a thing or two about herself in the process. Okay, it really isn't, but I'd swear that the progressive-thinking teacher character that Roberts plays has time-traveled from the present back to the early 1950s. OUR TAKE: 5 out of 10 Knowing little about "Mona Lisa Smile" before seeing it other than it starred Julia Roberts and her radiant personality and smile in a "Dead Poets Society" sort of story, I had little idea it was a science fiction film. From that point on, Katherine tries to get her students to see the possibilities in their lives beyond serving their future husbands, all while dealing with her own personal life. That obviously leads to strife with the college administrators who don't like her bending the rules as well as Betty who sets out to destroy her career, just like she did with Amanda.
While dealing with that, Katherine also decides to chuck the class syllabus when she learns that her students are incredibly book smart but have no idea how to think outside the box. Only the slightly bohemian Giselle Levy (MAGGIE GYLLENHAAL) seems to buck the trend, but she's interested in continuing her love affair with Italian professor Bill Dunbar (DOMINIC WEST) who's now set his sights on Katherine instead. Even so, she's shocked to learn that the various students - including Elizabeth "Betty" Warren (KIRSTEN DUNST), Joan Brandwyn (JULIA STILES) and Connie Baker (GINNIFER GOODWIN) - are basically wiling away their time until they get married and become wives and mothers to the likes of "catches" Tommy Donegal (TOPHER GRACE) and Spencer Jones (JORDAN BRIDGES). Katherine has high hopes for teaching the best and brightest young women in the country, but knows of Wellesley's reputation for being the most conservative college around. She ends up being housemates with Nancy Abbey (MARCIA GAY HARDEN), the old-fashioned poise and elocution instructor, and meets Amanda Armstrong (JULIET STEVENSON), the school nurse whose lesbian lover has recently died. PLOT: It's the fall of 1953 and Katherine Watson (JULIA ROBERTS) has left California and boyfriend Paul Moore (JOHN SLATTERY) for the New England campus of Wellesley College where she's to teach art history. QUICK TAKE: Drama: A progressive-thinking art teacher takes a job at a conservative women's college with hopes of enlightening her students about the possibilities in their lives beyond serving their future husbands. Otherwise, use the following link to read our complete Parental Review of this film. If you've come from our parental review of this film and wish to return to it, simply click on your browser's BACK button.
(2003) (Julia Roberts, Kirsten Dunst) (PG-13)