Mona Lisa Smile

Drama, Comedy, Romance

Julia Roberts	Katherine Ann Watson
Kirsten Dunst	Elizabeth 'Betty' Warren
Julia Stiles	Joan Brandwyn
Maggie Gyllenhaal	Giselle Levy
Marcia Gay Harden	Nancy Abbey
Ginnifer Goodwin	Connie Baker
Dominic West	Bill Dunbar
Juliet Stevenson	Amanda Armstrong
John Slattery	Paul Moore
Marian Seldes	President Jocelyn Carr
Topher Grace	Tommy Donegal

Director	Mike Newell
Producer	Paul Schiff; Deborah Schindler
Writer	Lawrence Konner; Mark Rosenthal

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