MOVIE REVIEW: ‘Mona Lisa’ challenges gender roles in ’50s, beautiful screenplay and settings shine
To anyone who has had the experience of choosing a movie so wisely that you entered the theater only to find yourself completely and totally alone, I send my condolences.
Much the way a crippling pain in the left shoulder misgives the condition of one’s heart, so this scenario seems to foreshadow the quality of the film. See also: “Gigli.” See also: Any film starring Kevin Costner. Such is the way I approached my experience with “Mona Lisa Smile.” The hypothesis, in this case, however, proved to be incorrect. On the backbone of a beautifully written screenplay, the film’s enthralling characters and enchanting setting envelope you and glide along with ease.
Miss Katherine Watson (Julia Roberts) is an unorthodox, bohemian college graduate who joins the faculty at the all-women Wellesley College to teach art history and (she hopes) to make a difference. Finding herself sadly out of place and constantly one step behind her students, Katherine’s work is tenuously unfolded before us. As we are revealed threads of her life, so we continuously peer into the lives of her pupils. Miss Watson’s struggles along with those of three particular students (played by Kirsten Dunst, Julia Stiles and Maggie Gyllenhaal) are interwoven into this soft, calming tapestry of film.
It is the ability of these young stars, coupled with the inimitable charm of Julia Roberts, that finds the viewer walking away serenely satisfied. This movie reveals to us that 1953 was a very different time in which women had very different roles and expectations.
At one point in the film, after having been urged by Miss Watson to question ideals, Betty Warren (Dunst) suggests there could have been more to Mona Lisa than her pretty smile. Perhaps the woman behind the painting underwent turmoil of her own. Mockingly she says, “She looks happy, that’s all that matters” thus quoting a central theme. These young women lived in a world where they knew they’d grow up to be housewives. Any further dreams had to be buried beneath their smiles.
This picture provides an adequate medium for these three budding starlets to stretch their legs and be taken a little more seriously. Truth be known, before I saw this film, I could have written a feature-length script entitled “10 Things I Hate About Julia Stiles” without breaking a sweat. However, she and the other two prove very believable in this context.
All in all, “Mona Lisa Smile” is a captivating, humanistic piece. It will leave you believing in yourself and would be a fine choice for mothers and daughters alike. Die-hard Julia Roberts fans and most men, however, will probably leave unfulfilled (I never did get that steamy “Boarding School Locker Room Scene” I hoped for). One might also argue that Roberts’ immense talent was underused. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the brief escape to the 1950s and strode out of the abandoned theater with a smile.
Adam Kirschman is a junior in pre-med. Comments may be sent to adamk@cc.usu.edu.