Title:Mona Lisa Smile
Released by Sony Pictures in 2003
Directed by Mike Newell
Written by Lawrence Konner and Mark Rosenthal.
Musical Director: Charles Previn.
Filmed at Wellesley College, (it is a school that was opened 128 years ago).
Viewing time: 97 minutes.
Rated: R
We saw it at the theatre but it is now available in VCR and DVD.
.:Some of the Cast:.
There are hundreds of actors in this movie, from people in the background to the board members at the school. I’m only going to tell you about the ones who I feel were important to me.
The Adults:
Julia Roberts plays Katherine Ann Watson
Kirsten Dunst plays Betty Warren
Julia Stiles plays Joan Brandwyn
Maggie Gyllenhaal plays Giselle Levy
Ginnifer Goodwin plays Connie Baker
Dominic West plays Bill Dunbar
Juliet Stevenson plays Amanda Armstrong
Marcia Gay Harden plays Nancy Abbey
John Slattery plays Paul Moore
Marian Seldes plays President Jocelyn Carr
Donna Mitchell plays Mrs. Warren
Jennifer H. Anderson plays Jennifer Anderson
The Students:
TheArt History Class:
Kristen Connolly, Lauren Adler, Daisy Baldwin, Janine Barris, Emily Bauer, Kirstie Bingham, Jennifer Bowen, Nikki Coble, Kristyn Coppola, Megan Marie Ford, Lauren Fruchter, Katherine Reilly, Stella Hao, Michele Hillen, Annika Marks, Annika Montminy, Lily Rabe, Krysten Ritter, Brandy Tipton and Trisha Trokan.
Others:
Aleksa Palladino plays Frances, the girl in Italian Class.
Charles Techman plays Harvard Dorm Monitor
.:My Review:.
This movie takes place in 1955, when Katerine Watons leaves her older boy friend in Los Angeles. She was hired to teach Art History, Wellesley, (Private School for teen aged girls).
She doesn’t know that she was the schools second choice for the job. She also doesn’t know that she is on a one term probation period.
The first day she goes to teach the class she holds up text book, that she would be using to teach them from.
She asks, ’’Does anyone in the class know what this book is?’’
In unison they reply, ’’Yes.’’ They tell her the name of the book and looking straight ahead, begin to quote the book from the beginning.
Katherine stops them and asks if they have memorized the entire book. They tell her they have.
She realizes to make a difference in their lives, (this is the goal she set for her self), she would have to find a new way of teaching them.
All of the students were exceptionally brilliant, although one didn’t think she was.
All of the students, (except one), either were married or planned to get married as soon as they could.
Not every teacher was a woman. One of the male teachers though Katherine had a Mona Lisa smile. All of the teachers, except Katerine and another one, (who kept having affairs with the students), were prim and proper.
Did Katerine find a new way of teaching art? Did the students like it? Did she change any lives? Was she hired to teach the following year? To find the answers to this you’ll have to see the movie.
.:My Thoughts:.
If you have graduated from high school, you will see people you know, in some of the characters.
I relived Grade 12! Every student and teacher were exactly like the ones I knew.
The cloths were the same, the colloquialisms were the same, we had the same type of parties, fights, love life and the best part was that the music was the same.
Wellesley College, is in the State of Massachusetts. Massachusetts has four seasons, and so did Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada where I was born.
There were no special effects, but none were needed. Each of the actors played their roles very well.
When you were in high school, music played a very important part in your life. It may not have been jazz, the jitterbug or slow dancing, but you will always remember the music of your youth.
.:The Music:.
If I closed my eyes I would have thought that I was at my high school prom again. It’s worth the money just to hear the music.
Mona Lisa was sung by Seal.
You Belong To Me was sung by Tori Amos.
Bewitched Bothered And Bewildered was sung by Celine Dion.
The Heart Of Every Girl was preformed by Elton John.
Santa Baby was sung by Macy Gray
Murder He Says was sung by Tori Amos
Beseme Mucho was sung my Chris Isaak
Secret Love was sung by Mandy Moore
What’ll I Do was sung by Alison Krass
Istanbul Not Constantinople and Shhh Boom Shhh Boom, were preformed by the Trevor Horn Orchestra.
I’m Beginning to See The Light was sung by Kelly Rowlands
I’ve Got The World On A String was sung by Lisa Stansfield
Smile was sung by Barbra Streisand.
Seal’s vocals on the song ’’Mona Lisa. sound so much Nat King Cole’s original that it was scary.
Chris Isaak croons like Dean Martin when he sings Besame Mucho.
Tori Amos impressed me with her singing. She sang You Belong To Me, as a ballad, and the changed the beat to sing the perky ’’Murder He Says.’’
I started crying when I heard What Will I Do, (when you are far away, and I’ll be blue, what’ll I do), because that was the last song I sang to my mother before she passed away.
.:My Final Thoughts:.
Julia Roberts has matured as an actress, and I love the way she smiles.
If you are younger than 40, and would like to see how you mother or grandmother lived in the 1950’s you’ll get a kick out of this film.
To see more things about the movie the link is:
https://sonypictures.com/movies/monalisasmile/site
I loved this movie and highly recommend it to you.
Thanks for reading my review.</>
©LL2004