Oh boy, I don't know what to say. What's the primary theme of this film? I suppose the only way to describe Mona Lisa Smile is, "Julia Roberts is a sassy, smart girl in a world that's not quite ready for her... again."

Roberts plays Katherine Watson, a strong, independant art teacher in a 1950s Massachusetts Liberal Arts School for snooty girls. Her students are on a constant crusade to be even sassier than Ms. Watson herself, doing everything from answering her questions before she's finished asking them to calling a painting of a bloody carcass, "erotic." Oh, those sassy, sassy girls. Fortunately Watson's will can not be diminished by her students. She teaches the girls the value of free thought and to ignore all the conventional rules they've been brought up on.

Suddenly, the students are appreciating art and not just studying it. They now view Watson, not as some poor gal from the west coast but rather a sassy role model. The film ends with Watson leaving the school for some reason and the girls saying thank you for being a friend, your heart is true, you're a pal and a confidant.

I've got to be honest, this movie wasn't terrible in the sense that it wasn't painful to be in the same room as it but it also wasn't good in the sense that whatever is on TV at this moment (this very moment, regardless of what time of day or night you're reading this) is probably better than it. One of my biggest complaints comes from the portrayal of 1953 college girls. They acted too much like sassy 2003 college girls. I suppose I'm not exactly a connoisseur on the youth from fifty years ago but I think Back to the Future gave me a way more convincing look into the past. The girls just used way too much modern slang for it to be realistic. It was also the fact that the already very feminist students were being taught feminism by their feminist teacher. Honestly, for a conservative, 1950s, private school, these chicks were really, REALLY sassy. There was also no character development. Every one of these girls could have been any other girl in the class. All the characters were completely interchangeable. Seriously, they could have switched the names of the students around every other scene and nobody would have noticed... in fact I think they might have.

If you're in the mood for a movie about a teacher teaching his/her students to think outside the box I'd have to recommend Dead Poets Society, School of Rock, or (dare I say it?) Mr. Holland's Opus before this.

All in all, for a film that focuses on the emotional and cultural value of art it sure was an uninspired piece of crap.

Final score:
Three banana peels and some expired take out.








Dumpster worthy?:
Not worth digging out of the trash but if you already have make sure you hit it with some Lysol and give it to some family member you don't really know that well as a gift.