Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!: Mona Lisa Smile (2003) - Supporting performances and production elevate gender inequality drama

11/08/2020

Mona Lisa Smile (2003) - Supporting performances and production elevate gender inequality drama

♥♥♥♥

+ Best Massachusetts Movie of the Year

Four distinguished actresses in 1950s garbs look at something unseen, - perhaps Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa painting, - on this poster for Mike Newell's Mona Lisa Smile

A privileged girls' school in New England in the 1950s gets a new art teacher, who challenges the young women's perspective on art and gives them a critical mind towards their future as housewives, - or possibly more independent individuals.

Mona Lisa Smile is written by Lawrence Konner (Mercury Rising (1998)) and Mark Rosenthal (The Jewel of the Nile (1985)) and directed by great British filmmaker Mike Newell (Comedy Workshop: Love and Maud Carver (1964).

The title refers to the famously mysterious 'maybe-smile' on Leonarda da Vinci's Mona Lisa (1503-1506) painting exhibited today in Paris' Louvre museum, as the film thematizes women's opportunities for trying to create a (possibly) happier life for themselves. Newell's film lives especially due to a plethora of strong, engaged performances: Marcia Gay Harden (A Cat in Paris (2010)), Maggie Gyllenhaal (River of Fundament (2014)), Ginnifer Goodwin (Electric City (2012, TV-series short)), and Kirsten Dunst (Marie Antoinette (2006)) not least create compelling characters here. Julia Roberts' (Erin Brockovich (2000)) character's outbreaks against the confines of the institution of marriage and more, and something about her essence and smile, don't seem entirely authentic. Roberts gets dropped into the 1950s here, and she stands out. She isn't bad in Mona Lisa Smile, but the performance wouldn't rank in a top 10 of her best turns.

The story is uplifting, circling the century's slow changes for women, and the production is grand with fantastic costume work.

2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010) - Newell straddles too much in fair action-adventure

2007 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

Love in the Time of Cholera (2007) - Newell's Márquez adaptation is a disaster

2003 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]

2003 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

Donnie Brasco (1997) - Newell's fantastic, authentic gangster tale

Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994) - Newell, Curtis and a stellar cast's romcom triumph

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 72.3 mil. $

Box office: 141.3 mil. $

= Flop (returned 1.95 times its cost)

[Mona Lisa Smile was released 19 December (USA, Italy) and runs 119 minutes. Shooting took place in Massachusetts, Arizona, New York, Connecticut and in California, including San Francisco from September 2002 - January 2003. Roberts received the biggest payday for a female actor in Hollywood history up to the point at 25 mil. $. The film opened #2, behind fellow new release The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, to an 11.5 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it left the top 5 in its 2nd week and grossed 63.8 mil. $ (45.2 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Germany with 13.1 mil. $ (9.3 %) and the UK with 8.1 mil. $ (5.7 %). The film was nominated for a Golden Globe. Roger Ebert gave the film a 3/4 star review, equal in rating to this one. Newell returned with Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005). Roberts returned in Freedom: A History of US (2003, TV series documentary) and theatrically in Closer (2004). Mona Lisa Smile is rotten at 34 % with a 4.93/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Mona Lisa Smile?

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William Friedkin has died

Born in Chicago, Friedkin accrued TV credits prior to his advance to the big screen as the director of Good TImes (1967), The Birthday Party (1968), The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968) and The Boys in the Band (1970) before his major breakthrough, The French Connection (1971), for which he won his only Oscar. He followed it up with the even bigger smash, The Exorcist (1973), arguably the best horror film of all time, for which he was Oscar-nominated. Later credits include Sorcerer (1977), Cruising (1980), To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), Rampage (1987), Rules of Engagement (2000), Killer Joe (2011) and The Devil and Father Amorth (2017, documentary). Friedkin passed away at age 87. R.I.P.

Louise Fletcher has passed away

Born in Alabama to deaf parents, Fletcher got her first credits in late-1950s TV-series.She took a 10 year-long sabbatical to devote her time to motherhood after the release of A Gathering of Eagles, but then came back and soon saw her career's most important part, as Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), for which she won her sole Oscar. Later credits include Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), The Lucky Star (1980), Brainstorm (1983), Two Moon Junction (1988), Cruel Intentions (1999), A Perfect Man (2013) and many more. Fletcher passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Jean-Luc Godard has passed away

Born in Paris, France, Godard lived much of his life in Switzerland. He wrote for French film criticism magazine Cahiers du Cinema and became foundational for the New French Wave that inspired new waves in scores of other countries across the world with his Breathless (1960). Later credits include A Woman Is A Woman (1961), Vivre Sa Vie (1962), Le Petit Soldat (1962), Contempt (1963), Alphaville (1965), Pierrot le Fou (1965), 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her (1967), Weekend (1967), Every Man for Himself (1980), King Lear (1987), Century of Cinema (1995, documentary), Goodbye to Language (2014) and many more. Godard died of assisted suicide at age 91. R.I.P.

Wolfgang Petersen has died

James Caan has died

Caan was born the son of Jewish immigrants from Germany in New York. He got his start on TV in the early 1960s. His credits include El Dorado (1966), The Rain People (1969), Brian's Song (1971, TV movie), The Godfather (1972), - for which he earned his only Oscar nomination, - Slither (1973), The Gambler (1974), Funny Lady (1975), Rollerball (1975), Silent Movie (1976), Hide in Plain Sight (1980), - the only film he also directed, - Thief (1981), Misery (1990), Honeymoon in Vegas (1992), Bottle Rocket (1996), Eraser (1996), Dogville (2003), Elf (2003), Las Vegas (2003-07), Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) and many more. Caan passed away at age 82. R.I.P.

Jean-Louis Trintignant has died

Born in Vaucluse, France, Trintignant's theatrical debut as an actor was in If All the Guys in the World... (1955). Later credits include ...And God Created Woman (1956), The Seven Deadly Sins (1961), Inferno (1964), A Man and A Woman (1966), My Love, My Love (1967), A Man to Kill (1967), The Great Silence (1968), Z (1969), The Assassination (1972), Three Colors: Red (1994), Amour (2012), Happy End (2017) and many more. He also wrote and directed two films in the 1970s. Trintignant passed away at age 91. R.I.P.

Ray Liotta has died

Adopted from an orphenage at a young age, Liotta got hooked on acting in high school. He had various TV credits in the late 1970s and early 80s, with his film debut in The Lonely Lady (1983). Later credits include Something Wild (1986), Field of Dreams (1989), Goodfellas (1990), Cop Land (1997), Hannibal (2001), Blow (2001), Narc (2002), John Q (2002), Identity (2003), Observe and Report (2009), Youth in Revolt (2009), The Details (2011), Killing THem Softly (2012), The Place Beyond the Pines (2012), Shades of Blue (2016-18), The Simpsons (2018, TV-series), Marriage Story (2019), The Many Saints of Newark (2021), Black Bird (2022, TV-series) and many more. Liotta passed away at age 67 in his sleep while on production in the Dominican Republic. R.I.P.

Philip Baker Hall has died

Born in Ohio, Hall didn't start acting until he was 30. His long list of credits include Zabriskie Point (1970), Miami Vice (1987, TV-series), Midnight Run (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Cheers (1993, TV-series), Hard Eight (1996), The Rock (1996), Air Force One (1997), Boogie Nights (1997), Seinfeld (1991-98), Rush Hour (1998), The Insider (1999), Magnolia (1999), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Bruce Almighty (2003), Dogville (2003), The Zodiac (2005), Zodiac (2007), Curb Your Enthusiasm (2004-09), Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011), Modern Family (2011-12) and many more. Hall passed away at age 90. R.I.P.

William Hurt has passed away

Born in Washington D.C., Hurt's first film role was the lead in Altered States (1980). Later credits include Body Heat (1981), The Big Chill (1983), Gorky Park (1983), Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985), for which he earned his only Oscar as Best Actor; Chilrdren of a Lesser God (1986), for which he was also Oscar-nominated; Broadcast News (1987), for which he was again Oscar-nominated; Smoke (1995), A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001), A History of Violence (2005), for which he was again Oscar-nominated; The Good Shepherd (2006), Into the Wild (2007), Robin Hood (2010) and many more. Hurt passed away at age 71. R.I.P.

Ivan Reitman has passed away

Born in Chechoslovakia, now Slovakia, Reitman's family fled the Soviet regime to Austria, then Toronto, when he was 4 years old. Reitman broke into movies as a director with Foxy Lady (1971). Later credits include Cannibal Girls (1973), Meatballs (1979), Stripes (1981), Ghostbusters (1984), Twins (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Kindergarten Cop (1990), Junior (1994), Father's Day (1997), Evolution (1998), No Strings Attached (2011), Draft Day (2014) and more. Reitman's son Jason Reitman is also a great filmmaker. Reitman passed away at age 75. R.I.P.

Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!

Eagerly anticipating this week ... (6-24)