Mona Lisa Smile

2003

117 mins

Directed by Mike Newell
33%
60%
13+
Drama
Kids & Family

Dead Poets Society-style tale of a progressive art history teacher at a conservative 1950s college for girls, starring Julia Roberts... More

Dead Poets Society-style tale of a progressive art history teacher at a conservative 1950s college for girls, starring Julia Roberts and an ensemble cast of young up-and-coming actresses of the era including Kirsten Dunst, Julia Stiles, Ginnifer Goodwin and Maggie Gyllenhaal. From the director of Four Weddings and a Funeral.

Set in 1953, Katherine Watson (Roberts) is the new art history professor at Wellesley College, an all-female university with a formidable academic reputation. Unfortunately for the progressive Ms. Watson, her precocious young students are more focused on marriage than education, let alone a career. Katherine challenges the girls to choose their own paths but meets resistance from faculty, parents and even the students. Meanwhile, Katherine must choose between romance and her own desire to remain a free spirit.

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Where to watch Mona Lisa Smile

Mona Lisa Smile is available to stream in New Zealand... More now on Netflix and Apple TV Store and Prime Video Store.

There is no screening information for this title.

Mona Lisa Smile | Ratings & Reviews

33_%150 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes® rating
60_%208,385 reviews
Audience score rating
13+Age suitability
Children & Media rating

"An appealing female cast gives the hollowly formulaic "Mona Lisa Smile" more dignity than it perhaps deserve."

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Variety

"An exhausting cram session of hair trigger speechifying and identity transformations bordering on science fiction."

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Time Out

"The darker shades of the charismatic teacher we find in Frenzy (the 1944 film Ingmar Bergman wrote for Alf Sjöberg) and The Pride of Miss Jean Brodie are not to be encountered here... still, this is an intelligent, attractive and good-looking film."

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The Guardian

"Art History 001 and kindergarten-level sociology."

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New Zealand Herald

"There are some roles Julia Roberts was born to play - a tart with a heart, say, or a likeable and famous actor - but a charismatic, inspiring 1950s teacher is not one of them."

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