Julie Roberts, Julia Stiles, Kirsten Dunst, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Marcia Gay Harden all in one film? Wow, with such a stellar cast Mona Lisa Smile must be a story for the ages, right?
Well, there is a story there but the twists and turns it takes you on leaves you a little confused and unsatisfied with the outcome. It isn’t the cast that hurts this film, but the story, or I should say what becomes the result of a well conceived storyline.
It goes without saying that this is a flick bent on pulling at the heart strings and looking for a tear on your cheek at the end, but it is the turn that the movie takes at the end that makes that tear a little less likely to fall.
Katherine Watson (Roberts) travels from California to the New England campus of Wellesley College in the fall of 1953 to teach art history.
Wellesley is known for housing some of the smartest young women around, but Katherine’s expectations of educating the best and the brightest becomes a lesson as she realizes the prestigious institution is steeped in conformity. According to their poise and elocution teacher Nancy Abbey (Marcia Gay Harden), an engagement ring on a young woman’s finger is considered a bigger prize than a well-rounded education.
Well, for Katherine, and as the audience will agree, this isn’t the role women of this caliber should be looking to in their futures. Katherine takes the opportunity to show the girls a world they never knew existed, but the strange plot turn has Katherine looking at herself more than the mis-education of the students she is teaching.
My disappointment in this picture may be a result of this very fact but I also find it to be so much a disappointment that it hurts the film’s ability to move on a linear path and it adds a bit of a jagged pill that catches in your throat and doesn’t want to dislodge.
As I said before, the cast isn’t the problem, Julia Roberts is great and the fact that she can carry a movie on her own goes without saying. Julia Stiles brings that welcome glow not found in many actors (it never hurts to see her on screen) and Kirsten Dunst carries off the soon-to-be reformed bitch of the class perfectly.
The most welcome contributions come from Maggie Gyllenhaal and new comer Ginnifer Goodwin. Gyllenhaal’s character (Giselle Levy) begins to look up to Katherine and also has inner demons to work out. Her emotionally driven performance is felt throughout and she brings a lot to the screen.
With that said, my favorite addition to the acting world was the performance of Ginnifer Goodwin portraying Connie Baker. A cute girl with a big heart is a great definition for Goodwin as she plays the role of friend to everyone. Her performance adds humanity to the picture and she is likeable in every way.
If you are curious about the title just remember that when people look at the painting of Mona Lisa they always ask, “But is she really smiling?” The heart of Mona Lisa Smile is a look at one’s own self and whether one is truly happy in the path they have chosen.
Unfortunately when that question is answered in Mona Lisa Smile the path takes an unexpected turn that hurts everything the intriguing portions of the film lead up to.
I can’t recommend you see this one in a theater, but being the holidays it won’t hurt. It isn’t that you will come out disappointed, but you may be hoping it turned out differently.
