Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Binding: VHS Tape
EAN: 9781404905818
Format: Closed-captioned
ISBN: 1404905812
Label: Sony Pictures
Languages: Array
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Sony Pictures
Release Date: 2004-06-01
Running Time: 117
Studio: Sony Pictures
Theatrical Release Date: 2003-12-19

Julia Roberts's command of the screen is so effortless, it's easy for moviegoers to take her for granted--but we shouldn't. Mona Lisa Smile--about a noncomformist teacher at a private school who encourages students to pursue their individuality--is pretty much an all-girls version of Dead Poets Society that mixes '50s fashions with '70s feminist thought. However, its lack of ambition doesn't diminish the talent that's gone into it: The writing and directing are well-honed and skillful; the actors--a talent-studded cast featuring Marcia Gay Harden, Kirsten Dunst, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Julia Stiles, and Juliet Stevenson--are uniformly excellent. But without question, Mona Lisa Smile rides on Roberts's shoulders and she carries it with ease. She's possibly the only contemporary actor who simply owns a movie the way Bette Davis, Jean Arthur, or Claudette Colbert once did, radiating a engaging mix of intelligence, drive, and emotional warmth that cannot be matched. --Bret Fetzer

Customer Rating:
Summary: Dull
Comment: The only reason I can honestly say that this film is not as bad as, say, Saving Private Ryan or Titanic or From Hell is simple- the babes are cute as hell- Maggie Gyllenhaal is always sexy in a sly way, Kirsten Dunst does aptly portray the 1950s type whose bodice needs ripping & bosom needs suckling, & Julia Stiles has an eerie porcelain-like perfection, almost preternaturally perfected, that makes her mesmerizing to watch. &, hey, JR is not the best actress on the planet, but her goofy good looks are not punition. I would like to see stars like her wield & flex their power to improve rancid scripts like this. Hopefully the younger babes, if they become stars, will do just that- & ironically learn real lessons from this film that are not contained within. I can only guess JR actually likes clichéd wannabe tear-jerkers, or she lacks the ability to see 1 when she reads it. Either way, take a pass, & try reading anything for 2 hours.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: A must see for young women
Comment: Julia Roberts is cast as a young, idealistic teacher who takes her first teaching job at a strait-laced Ivy League girl's college. She strives to bring the girls into the 20th Century by teaching the women from affluent families to think for themselves and use their free will to make independent choices for their futures. Entwined with her clash with the school's straight laced approach to educating women, there is romance for her and her students. Placed in the early 1950's when the growth of women's' liberation started, it has great significance. I would recommend it to every girl in high school or college. It's a great story with meaning.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Not Very Good...And That's Being Generous
Comment: Since the malnourished plot is already described elsewhere, I'll do everyone the favor of skipping what this film was about, or more accurately what it hoped to be about, and just tell you why I think seeing it represents two wasted hours of life. The boring, leaden-messaged Mona Lisa Smile reminded me that a studio got a lot of flavor-of-the-month twentysomething actresses together under contract and then scrambled to find some film to put them all in with a large anchor star. At least that's what the cobbled-together Mona Lisa Smile felt like to me. In its pre-release publicity for this film, the studio, as it struggled to define what this virtually plotless movie was about, latched comparisons onto superior productions from the past like Dead Poet's Society, and even Mr. Holland's Opus, all in an effort to bolster this turkey via association. I wonder if anyone was fooled? Mona Lisa Smile steals your time in a contrived, pointless, clumsy example of weak storytelling, while relying on big names to add some illusion of gravitas to the whole mess. It's like a massive wad of cotton candy sold in fancy packaging, and I for one found it pretty darned bad.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: A list of respectable actresses
Comment: The cast list reads off many aspiring young actresses as well as the talented Julia Roberts. It delves into a hidden world of the desires and aspirations of many young women who struggle between a dichotomy of conforming to societal frameworks and rebelling towards a path of progressiveness.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Amazing film!
Comment: THIS MOVIE IS AMAZING!!!
Not only women will anjoy it, and it really teaches you about that time (wich i find that very interesting).

I loved this film and i saw it two times and i wanted to by it but the person i sent it to threw it away. Anyway, i'm buying it again and i recommend it to all!!!

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