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+ Best Massachusetts Movie of the Year
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| 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.
Related posts:
Mike Newell: 2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
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
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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