"Julia's 'Smile' Isn't Enough"
by Scott Mantz

“Mona Lisa Smile”
Julia Roberts, Kirsten Dunst
Directed by Mike Newell

Higher learning! Julia Roberts teaches life lessons to Julia Stiles in "Mona Lisa Smile"

There’s a scene about midway through “Mona Lisa Smile” when Betty, the confrontational traditionalist played by Kirsten Dunst, challenges the rest of her classmates about the meaning of art by saying, “art isn’t art until someone says it is.”

Glad to hear it, ‘cause guess what? “Mona Lisa Smile” isn’t art – not by a long shot. It’s almost insulting to think that this 50’s-era ensemble, featuring Oscar-winner Julia Roberts (“Erin Brockovich”) as a forward-thinking art history professor, could be passed off as a serious awards contender, when it is in fact about as contrived and as predictable as they come. Despite an impressive young cast – namely Julia Stiles, Maggie Gyllenhaal and the aforementioned Dunst – watching this female “Dead Poets Society” wannabe is about as exciting as watching paint dry.

The year is 1953, and when Katherine Watson (Julia Roberts) shows up for her first day at the prestigious all-girls Wellesley College, she thinks she’s going to change the world…or at least, her students. Boy, is she in for a rude awakening, for not only do her students know more than she does, but the administrative staff will simply not tolerate her pro-feminist, non-conformist way of thinking. Despite such resistance, Katherine vows to make her mark on at least some of her students, starting with Joan (Julia Stiles), a would-be law student, Giselle (Maggie Gyllenhaal), a chain-smoking sexpot, and Betty (Kirsten Dunst), an ignorant young housewife who can’t handle the truth.

The whole concept of having a teacher influence his (or her) students has been done before a thousand times in Hollywood, but for every film that worked (“Goodbye, Mr. Chips,” “Dead Poets Society”), there have been plenty that haven’t (“The Emperor’s Club,” “Mr. Holland’s Opus”). Unfortunately, you can file “Mona Lisa Smile” along with the ones that haven’t. I mean, talk about a movie that uses every cliche in the book, you can see every contrived plot development coming from a mile away.

That’s too bad for Julia Roberts, who produced the film through her Red Om shingle (which, by the way, is “Moder,” her married name, spelled backwards). After starring in a couple of turkeys (“The Mexican,” “America’s Sweethearts”) and doing a couple of favors (“Ocean’s Eleven,” “Confessions of a Dangerous Mind”), there’s no doubt that this was her serious bid to get back in bed with Oscar voters for the first time since “Erin Brockovich.” Sadly, this isn’t the film to do it, and the closest she’ll come to the Oscar podium this year will be from her seat in the audience (unless, of course, she’s a presenter).

Actually, it’s not entirely her fault that the film doesn’t work, as director Mike Newell, who scored with “Four Weddings and a Funeral” (one of the best romantic comedies of the 90’s), doesn’t seem to have a firm grasp on things here. For one thing, while many of the supporting players look convincing enough as schoolgirls and faculty members from the 1950’s, Julia Roberts looks too much like…well, Julia Roberts. In addition, the voiceover supplied by Dunst is too inconsistent and sporadic to be effective. Finally, when all is said and done, it’s hard to see what effect Roberts had on anyone she came in contact with (and though the argument can be made that Roberts was the one who went though the change, that transformation doesn’t ring true).

It may be Roberts’ movie, but for better or worse, she’s upstaged by most of her co-stars. While Julia Stiles is solid enough as the co-ed who’s not really sure if she wants to get married, “Spider” gal Kirsten Dunst chews her scenery with an over-the-top, melodramatic performance. Roberts has hardly any chemistry with the token love interest played by Dominic West, but at least up-and-comer Maggie Gyllenhaal makes her mark as a feisty student who has a thing for married men. Ultimately, the real treat here is Marcia Gay Harden, who solidifies her chameleon-like transformation from film-to-film with a scene-stealing performance as an ultra-conservative etiquette instructor.

Okay, so “Mona Lisa Smile” isn’t art, but sadly, it isn’t even good. Maybe I’m being too hard on the film, but given the level of talent involved, it should have been more than just some run-of-the-mill, paint-by-numbers Hollywood production.

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