Amazon.co.uk Review
Julia Roberts' command of the screen is so effortless, it's easy for moviegoers to take her for granted--but we shouldn't.
Mona Lisa Smile--about a non-comformist teacher at a private school who encourages students to pursue their individuality--is pretty much an all-girls version of
Dead Poets Society that mixes 50s fashions with 70s feminist thought. However, its lack of ambition doesn't diminish the talent that's gone into it: the writing and directing are well-honed and skilful; the actors--a talent-studded cast featuring Marcia Gay Harden, Kirsten Dunst, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Julia Stiles and Juliet Stevenson--are uniformly excellent. But without question,
Mona Lisa Smile rides on Roberts' shoulders and she carries it with ease. She's possibly the only contemporary actor who simply owns a movie the way Bette Davis, Jean Arthur, or Claudette Colbert once did, radiating a engaging mix of intelligence, drive, and emotional warmth that cannot be matched. --
Bret Fetzer
Video Description
Academy Award winner Julia Roberts stars in
Mona Lisa Smile as Katherine Watson, a recent UCLA graduate hired to teach art history at the prestigious all-female Wellesley College, in 1953. Determined to confront the outdated mores of society and the institution that embraces them, Katherine inspires her traditional students, including Betty (Kirsten Dunst) and Joan (Julia Stiles), to challenge the lives they are expected to lead.
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