“Mona Lisa Smile” (Columbia Pictures)
It has been a while since Julia Roberts had a starring role in a major movie. She won the Oscar for her role in “Erin Brockovich” but followed it up with supporting roles in “Ocean’s Eleven” and “Full Frontal.” Now she is back on screen as the star of “Mona Lisa Smile,” but it is a less than pleasing performance or movie.
In the film Roberts plays Katherine Watson, a woman who moves from California to Massachusetts to teach Art History at Wellesley College. The time is 1953 and Katherine is something of a free thinker. This endears her to most of her students but gets her into hot water with the faculty.
The movie focuses on Katherine’s relationship with four girls. They are Betty (Kirsten Dunst), Joan (Julia Stiles), Giselle (Maggie Gyllenhaal), and Connie (Ginnifer Goodwin) Betty is the spoiled socialite who only wants to get a husband. Joan is the brain who is possibly headed to law school. Giselle is the free loving Jewish girl, while Connie is the insecure member of the quartet.
Katherine also has a dalliance with one of her co-workers, Bill Dunbar (Dominic West) but that relationship is one of the worst elements in the story and one of the least explained. At best they make a handsome couple; at worst they are dull as dishwater together.
Of the four girls only Gyllenhaal manages to give her character any spark or spirit. The rest are cloned women of the fifties with only minute differences. If this was supposed to be a movie which showcased the talents of Stiles, Dunst and Gyllenhaal, it certainly failed. They have all been better in other roles.
And so has Julia. She walks through this part as if she were paying off some contractual debt. She doesn’t look her best and her acting is wooden. We all know she can be better than this. The question is – why isn’t she
The movie is rated PG-13 for profanity and some sexual situations.
While watching “Mona Lisa Smile” you want to tell Julia to get that smirk off her face and give us a really entertaining movie. I don’t care if it is “Steel Magnolias 2” or “Notting Hill 3.” Just leave the message movies alone and give us something where she glows and flashes that Julia Roberts smile. That is something worth seeing.
I scored “Mona Lisa Smile” an enigmatic 5 out of 10.
