Plot
In 1953, 30-year-old Katherine Ann Watson accepts an Art History teaching position at Wellesley College. She quickly discovers her students have memorized the entire textbook and syllabus, so she introduces modern art and encourages discussion about what good art is. Katherine also challenges her students to achieve more than marriage.
Outspoken conservative Betty Warren insists a universal standard exists for what is good art. She writes editorials for the college paper and exposes campus nurse and lesbian Amanda Armstrong for supplying contraception, resulting in her termination. Other editorials attack Katherine for advocating that women seek careers in addition to marriage.
Betty is eager to marry her fiancé Spencer and expects the traditional married-student exemptions; however, Katherine insists she will grade her based on merit and expects her to complete all assignments and tests. When her married life does not go smoothly, she begins taking out her frustrations on the other girls in the class, particularly Connie and Giselle.
Betty often ridicules Connie Baker, insisting her cousin Charlie is only taking her to the dance as a favor. Connie attempts to leave after one dance but is surprised when he expresses genuine interest. They begin dating and go on holiday, where Charlie hides from family friends. Connie breaks things off after Betty claims he is seeing Deb, the daughter of the couple Charlie avoided on their trip. She says Connie is just a casual fling.
However, weeks later, Connie and Charlie reconnect with him insisting he had stopped seeing Deb the previous summer and had only begun seeing his current girlfriend after Connie cut contact with him. Connie tearfully confronts Betty for lying and being hurtful, asking why Betty couldn't let her be happy. Later, Connie breaks into Charlie's dorm to ask for another chance and they kiss, rekindling their relationship.
Joan Brandwyn considers studying law at Yale Law School, so Katherine encourages her to apply. Although accepted, she declines admission to instead marry Tom Donegal, telling Katherine that choosing to be a wife and mother does not reduce her intelligence. Fearing Joan may regret not pursuing a career, Joan explains it is what she truly wants, Katherine congratulates her, wishing her happiness.
Giselle Levy is liberal about sex and has had several lovers, including Bill Dunbar, who she fell in love with. She moves on from him when he and Katherine begin dating. Giselle admires Katherine for encouraging students' independence. She earns Betty's enmity as her marriage falls apart1
Katherine's California boyfriend Paul visits unexpectedly and proposes, but Katherine declines. She starts dating Wellesley Italian professor, Bill Dunbar. Charming, he often tells stories about Europe and Italy during the war. He also has had affairs with students, including Giselle. so Katherine insists he stop.
Katherine later learns that, contrary to his stories, Bill was stationed at the Army Languages Center on Long Island. She breaks up with him and Bill tells her that despite what she thinks, she did not come to Wellesley to help the students find their way, but rather find her own path.
Betty's marriage falls apart once Spencer is seen with another woman. Betty leaves him but her mother demands she forgive him. She visits Giselle in her dorm, at first attacking her for her promiscuity, then breaking down. Giselle is the only student who knows about Spencer's infidelity, having seen him with an unknown blonde while on her own date, and comforts Betty.
Betty regrets maligning Katherine in her editorials. Eventually, Betty files for divorce, and she and Giselle plan to find an apartment in Greenwich Village. When Betty’s mother confronts her at graduation, Betty chastises her and credits Katherine as the only one who supported her, vowing to live her own life.
Despite disapproving of Katherine's progressive teaching methods, Wellesley administrators invite her to return the next year as her course is extremely popular under strict conditions. Katherine resigns, deciding to explore Europe instead. Betty dedicates her last editorial to her, admiring her for living by example and challenging them to see the world through new eyes. As she leaves in a taxi, the students follow on their bikes to say goodbye.
Reception
Mona Lisa Smile received mixed to negative reviews from film critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, it has a 34% approval rating based on 152 reviews, with an average score of 4.9/10 and a consensus: "Though Mona Lisa Smile espouses the value of breaking barriers, the movie itself is predictable." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 45 out of 100, based on 40 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". [6]
In a typical review, Claudia Puig of USA Today wrote, "it's Dead Poets Society as a chick flick, without the compelling drama and inspiration... even Roberts doesn't seem convinced. She gives a rather blah performance as if she's not fully committed to the role... Rather than being a fascinating exploration of a much more constrained time in our social history, the film simply feels anachronistic. The film deserves a solid 'C' for mediocrity and muted appeal." [7] Critic Elizabeth M. Tamny of the Chicago Reader shared this negative assessment, writing "Part of the problem is simply that Mona Lisa Smile is a Hollywood film, and Hollywood isn't good at depicting the life of the mind... And Julia Roberts is no help--you either like her or you don't, but either way it has little to do with talent. She's not so much an actor as a vessel for earnest reactions. The fact is... It's easier to take on an extremely black-and-white version of the most salient question from this film - can women bake their cake and eat it too? - than try to answer it in the present." [8]
David Ansen of Newsweek wrote, "What drew the usually astute Mike Newell (' Four Weddings and a Funeral ', ' Donnie Brasco ') to this project? There are hints that the script (credited to Mark Rosenthal and Lawrence Konner) may once have had more shadings - a suggestion that Katherine's idealism is a form of power-tripping; that she's afraid of intimacy - but any ambiguity is quickly brushed aside to make way for the Julia lovefest. Newell, no hack, tries not to milk the cliches shamelessly, and that may be the movie's final undoing. Lacking the courage of its own vulgarity, 'Mona Lisa Smile' is as tepid as old bathwater." [9]
