Critic compares ‘Mona Lisa Smile’ to TV movie on Lifetime network
In this 1953-set tale, Julia Roberts (“Erin Brockovich”) plays an independent art-history professor at all-female Wellesley College, but with all of the high drama – including crying, back stabbing, two-timing and bed-hopping – going on around her, she really should be in the performing arts department. Whether viewers will accept the contrived elements in this politically correct PG-13 picture will depend entirely on their tolerance of Roberts and her three young and talented co-stars, Kirsten Dunst (“Spider-Man”), Julia Stiles (“Save the Last Dance”) and Maggie Gyllenhaal (“Secretary”). The performers possess great screen appeal, but one wishes the script provided them with more dramatic challenges than an ordinary TV movie on the Lifetime network.
As the story begins, Katherine Watson (Roberts), a Californian described as a “bohemian,” lands a teaching position after Wellesley’s first choices decline and the vacancy must be immediately filled. Watson quickly learns that most of the faculty – including a professor (Marcia Gay Harden of “Pollack”) assigned to teach lessons in table settings – and parents want the young women to get an education but insist that the extremely bright students conform to the status quo. That consists of having husbands and children and confining themselves to lives as smiling, supportive housewives.
Watson, of course, has no intention of allowing them to become Stepford-like spouses and asks the young women to open their minds to life’s possibilities.
The spirited Giselle (Gyllenhaal), who may be having an affair with a dashing language professor (Dominic West of “Chicago”), takes Watson’s words to heart, but two other students, Betty (Dunst) and Joan (Stiles) remain skeptical, even antagonistic.
Betty, the privileged daughter of the tightly wound head of the college’s powerful alumni association, views the new professor as a troublemaker whose passionate lectures on free thought and original ideas threaten the traditions of Wellesley. Joan, however, finds Watson quietly motivating her to attend Yale Law School, a burning desire that she has hidden from everyone else.
The conflicts in “Mona Lisa Smile” come down to mostly icy stares between Watson, who describes Wellesley as “a finishing school disguised as a college,” and Betty, and in many ways, the film’s structure resembles “Dead Poets Society.” As with that hit film, the students ultimately rebel against the expectations of their demanding parents and traditional teachers as they learn how to free their minds while studying art history (rather than writing poetry).
British director Mike Newell (“Four Weddings and a Funeral”) never works up a creative sweat during “Mona Lisa Smile.” He simply allows Roberts to turn on the charm and flash the golden smile that helped to transform her into a superstar and rarely fails to grab the hearts of viewers.
“Mona Lisa Smile” abounds with easy targets, ranging from oppressive parents to opportunistic administrators. With Roberts, Dunst, Stiles and Gyllenhaal in the lead roles, however, one wishes that the film registered as a major dramatic work rather than a Cliff’s Notes approach to the early days of feminism in the sexist halls of higher learning.
FILM REVIEW
“Mona Lisa Smile”
Grade: B (for devoted Julia Roberts fans); C (for anyone else)
Starring: Julia Roberts, Kirsten Dunst, Julia Stiles, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Marcia Gay Harden and Dominic West; written by Lawrence Konner and Mark Rosenthal; produced by Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas, Deborah Schindler and Paul Schiff; directed by Mike Newell.
Running Time: 115 minutes.
Parental Guide: PG-13 rating (sexual elements, adult themes).