04.11.05
Movie Review: Mona Lisa Smile (2003)

I don’t understand Julia Roberts’ appeal.

In this one, she’s supposed to play a Berkeley grad who comes east the fall of 1953 to accept an position in the Art History department at Wellesley, where she plays by her own rules and encourages students to think for themselves. I guess. Really she just seems to meddle in everyone business and spend an awful lot of time and energy worrying about what people think of her. She also has a boring affair with an Italian professor.

Luckily, the supporting cast is wonderful, not to mention adorable in their matching Chesterfield coats and beanies. Kirsten Dunst is the bitchy one, Julia Stiles is the smart one, Maggie Gyllenthal is the slutty one, and Ginnifer Goodwin is supposed to be the unattractive one, but she’s actually the cutest of them all, all dimples and Bettie Page bangs. I want to put her under a glass dome and keep her on my desk!

The plot manages to be condescending to all involved, and Julia Roberts just looks haggard and sinewy, in between her big scenes of screeching about Modern Art. Watch it for retro fashion and make-up tips.