IMDb > Mona Lisa Smile (2003)
Mona Lisa Smile
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Mona Lisa Smile (2003) More at IMDbPro »

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Mona Lisa Smile (2003) -- A free-thinking art professor teaches conservative 50's Wellesley girls to question their traditional societal roles.
Mona Lisa Smile (2003) -- A free-thinking art professor teaches conservative 50's Wellesley girls to question their traditional societal roles.
Mona Lisa Smile (2003) -- Movieplayer.it - Trailer (Flash)

Overview

User Rating:
6.1/10   21,729 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Up 4% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Writers (WGA):
Lawrence Konner (written by) &
Mark Rosenthal (written by)
Contact:
View company contact information for Mona Lisa Smile on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
19 December 2003 (USA) more
Genre:
Tagline:
In a world that told them how to think, she showed them how to live. more
Plot:
A free-thinking art professor teaches conservative 50's Wellesley girls to question their traditional societal roles. full summary | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
Awards:
Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 5 nominations more
NewsDesk:
(52 articles)
Julia Roberts moves Into the Neighborhood
 (From Corona's Coming Attractions. 2 November 2009, 1:16 PM, PST)

Celebrity Biography: Julia Roberts
 (From PopStar. 23 May 2009, 10:12 PM, PDT)

User Comments:
Finally, a film that doesn't insult our intelligence! more (249 total)

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)
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Additional Details

MPAA:
Rated PG-13 for sexual content and thematic issues.
Runtime:
117 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Filming Locations:

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Producers had originally applied to film at Bryn Mawr College, another one of the Seven Sisters. It is unclear as to why they ultimately went with Wellesley College. more
Goofs:
Factual errors: When President Carr is dictating the invitation for Katherine's return to Wellesley, her secretary is writing in shorthand that makes absolutely no sense. The only correct word is the first, which reads "Dear". more
Quotes:
[first lines]
Betty Warren: [voiceover] All her life, she had wanted to teach at Wellesley College. So, when a position opened in the Art History department, she pursued it single-mindedly until she was hired. It was whispered that Katherine Watson, a first-year teacher from Oakland State, made up in brains what she lacked in pedigree. Which was why this bohemian from California was on her way to the most conservative college in the nation.
more
Movie Connections:
Featured in The 61st Annual Golden Globe Awards (2004) (TV) more
Soundtrack:
Hoop-De-Doo more

FAQ

How does it end?
more
12 out of 16 people found the following comment useful.
Finally, a film that doesn't insult our intelligence!, 20 December 2003
Author: Paul (Shakespeare-2) from Ottawa, Canada

I didn't expect much going into "Mona Lisa Smile". I figured it was going to be a rehash of all the movies ever made about teachers. You know, from "Goodbye Mr. Chips" and "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie", to "The Dead Poets' Society" and "Mr. Holland's Opus". But "Mona Lisa Smile" pleasantly surprised me, especially the uncompromising, principled ending.

Another thing that pleased me was the film's assumption of an intelligent, educated audience that does not require any dumbing-down of art and culture. "Mona Lisa Smile" rattles off names of artists and their works as if it fully expected moviegoers to be conversant with them. In at least one case, the film names neither the artist nor the work (Picasso's "Demoiselles d'Avignon"). All of these things are taken as givens, as part and parcel of a sophisticated audience's cultural baggage -- quite a change from the usual pap that Hollywood spoonfeeds us!

Moreover, the film sometimes speaks volumes by what it doesn't say but simply shows, taking for granted that we will fill in the blanks from our knowledge of the history of the period (that is, the early 1950s). There is one oblique reference to McCarthyism. A photo of an atomic explosion reminds us of the post-WWII, Cold War era. A game show on TV triggers a memory of the payola scandal. Again, "Mona Lisa Smile" credits us with brains rather than insulting our intelligence.

Mercifully, the title of the film is not simply a reference to Julia Roberts' famous beestung, collagen-enhanced lips. As Kirsten Dunst's character explains toward the end of the movie, Mona Lisa's smile is not necessarily an indication that she is happy and content -- any more than the women of the 1950s with their dream homes and seemingly perfect lives. "Mona Lisa Smile" is ultimately an indictment of those in society who perpetrate and perpetuate secrets and lies, and a tribute to those through whom the truth prevails.

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