Mona Lisa Smile - Wikipedia Mona Lisa Smile Mona Lisa Smile Theatrical release poster Directed by Mike Newell Produced by Fredward Johanson Written by Lawrence Konner Mark Rosenthal Starring Julia Roberts Kirsten Dunst Julia Stiles Maggie Gyllenhaal Music by Rachel Portman Cinematography Anastas Michos Edited by Mick Audsley Production company Revolution Studios Red Om Films Productions Distributed by Columbia Pictures Release date December 19, 2003 ( 2003 - 12 - 19 ) Running time 117 minutes Country United States Language English Italian Budget $72.3 million Box office $141.3 million Mona Lisa Smile is a 2003 American drama film produced by Revolution Studios and Columbia Pictures in association with Red Om Films Productions, directed by Mike Newell, written by Lawrence Konner and Mark Rosenthal, and starring Julia Roberts, Kirsten Dunst, Julia Stiles and Maggie Gyllenhaal. The title is a reference to the Mona Lisa, the famous painting by Leonardo da Vinci, and the song of the same name, originally performed by Nat King Cole, which was covered by Seal for the movie. Julia Roberts received a record $25 million for her performance, the highest ever earned by an actress at that time. Contents 1 Plot 2 Cast 3 Soundtrack 4 Box office 5 Reception 6 Reaction from Wellesley alumnae 7 Campus controversy 8 References 9 External links Plot This article 's plot summary may be too long or excessively detailed. Please help improve it by removing unnecessary details and making it more concise. ( December 2013 ) In 1953, Katherine Ann Watson ( Julia Roberts ), a 30 - year - old graduate student in the department of Art History at UCLA, takes a position teaching `` History of Art '' at Wellesley College, a conservative women 's private liberal arts college in Massachusetts. At her first class, Katherine discovers that her students have already memorized the entire textbook and syllabus, so she uses the classes to introduce them to Modern Art and encourages discussion about topics such as what makes good art. Katherine comes to know her students and seeks to inspire them to achieve more than marriage to eligible young men. Betty Warren ( Kirsten Dunst ) is highly opinionated and outspokenly conservative. Betty does n't understand why Katherine is not married and insists that there is a universal standard for good art. She writes editorials for the college paper, exposing campus nurse Amanda Armstrong ( Juliet Stevenson ) as a supplier of contraception, which results in Amanda being fired ; another editorial attacks Katherine for advocating that women should seek a career instead of being wives and mothers as intended. Betty ca n't wait to marry Spencer ( Jordan Bridges ) as their parents have arranged and expects the traditional exemptions from attending class as a married woman : Katherine insists she will be marked on merit and attendance, resulting in more conflict. Connie Baker ( Ginnifer Goodwin ) begins dating Betty 's cousin, Charlie ( Ebon Moss - Bachrach ) but Betty persuades her that he is only using her as his parents have arranged for him to marry Deb MacIntyre. Connie ends the relationship, believing Betty 's story to be true. However, some weeks later, Connie and Charlie reconnect, with Charlie saying he has already decided for himself that he is not going to marry Deb, so he and Connie get back together. Joan Brandwyn ( Julia Stiles ) dreams of being a lawyer and has enrolled as pre-law, so Katherine encourages her to apply to Yale Law School. She is accepted, but decides not to go because she wants to start a life with her new husband Tommy ( Topher Grace ). She tells Katherine that choosing to be a wife and mother does not make her any less intelligent. Giselle Levy ( Maggie Gyllenhaal ) has several lovers and liberal views about sex. She admires Katherine for encouraging the students to be independent. Katherine declines a proposal from her California boyfriend ( John Slattery ) because she does n't love him enough and begins seeing the Wellesley Italian professor, Bill Dunbar ( Dominic West ). Bill is charming and full of stories about Europe and his heroic actions in Italy during the war. He has also had affairs with students ( including Giselle ), and Katherine makes him promise that it will never happen again. The relationship progresses but when Katherine learns that Bill spent the entire war at the Army Languages Center on Long Island, she decides to break up with him because he is not trustworthy. Bill responds that Katherine did n't come to Wellesley to help the students find their way, but to help them find her way. Within six months of the wedding Betty 's marriage falls apart as Spencer has an affair. Eventually, influenced by Katherine, she files for divorce and tells Katherine that she plans to apply to law school. Katherine 's course is highly popular, so the college invites her to return but with certain conditions : she must follow the syllabus, submit lesson plans for approval, keep a strictly professional relationship with all faculty members, and not talk to the girls about anything other than classes. Katherine decides to leave in order to explore Europe. In the final scene, Betty dedicates her last editorial to Katherine, claiming that her teacher is `` an extraordinary woman who lived by example and compelled us all to see the world through new eyes. '' As Katherine 's taxi speeds up, all her students follow on their bicycles and Betty is seen struggling to keep up with the taxi as a last effort to thank Katherine for changing her life. Cast Julia Roberts as Katherine Ann Watson Kirsten Dunst as Elizabeth `` Betty '' Warren ( Jones ) Julia Stiles as Joan Brandwyn ( Donegal ) Maggie Gyllenhaal as Giselle Levy Juliet Stevenson as Amanda Armstrong Dominic West as Bill Dunbar Ginnifer Goodwin as Constance `` Connie '' Baker Topher Grace as Tommy Donegal John Slattery as Paul Moore Marcia Gay Harden as Nancy Abbey Jordan Bridges as Spencer Jones Marian Seldes as President Jocelyn Carr Terence Rigby as Dr. Edward Staunton Laura Allen as Susan Delacorte Ebon Moss - Bachrach as Charlie Stewart Tori Amos as wedding singer Emily Bauer as art history student Lisa Roberts Gillan as Miss Albini Annika Marks as art history student Lily Rabe as art history student Krysten Ritter as a student Soundtrack Mona Lisa Smile Soundtrack album by Various Released December 9, 2003 Length 48 : 27 Label Sony Music `` Mona Lisa '' -- Seal ( 3 : 11 ) `` You Belong to Me '' -- Tori Amos ( 3 : 03 ) `` Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered '' -- Celine Dion ( 2 : 45 ) `` The Heart of Every Girl '' -- Elton John ( 3 : 40 ) `` Santa Baby '' -- Macy Gray ( 3 : 29 ) `` Murder, He Says '' -- Tori Amos ( 3 : 22 ) `` Bésame Mucho '' -- Chris Isaak ( 2 : 46 ) `` Secret Love '' -- Mandy Moore ( 3 : 40 ) `` What 'll I Do '' -- Alison Krauss ( 3 : 12 ) `` Istanbul ( Not Constantinople ) '' -- The Trevor Horn Orchestra ( 2 : 26 ) `` Sh - Boom ( Life Could Be a Dream ) -- The Trevor Horn Orchestra ( 2 : 49 ) `` I 'm Beginning to See the Light '' -- Kelly Rowland ( 1 : 47 ) `` I 've Got the World on a String '' -- Lisa Stansfield ( 2 : 20 ) `` Smile '' -- Barbra Streisand ( 4 : 17 ) `` Suite '' -- Rachel Portman ( 5 : 33 ) Box Office In its first opening weekend, Mona Lisa Smile opened at # 2 at the U.S. Box office raking in $11,528,498 USD behind The Lord of the Rings : The Return of the King. By the end of its run, while the film had grossed $141,337,989 worldwide, its U.S. domestic gross did not meet its $65 million budget, falling short at $63,860,942. Reception Mona Lisa Smile received mixed to negative reviews from film critics. Critical aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes gives the movie a 35 % `` rotten '' rating based on 149 reviews. In a typical review, Claudia Puig of USA Today wrote, `` it 's Dead Poets Society as a chick flick, without the compelling drama and inspiration... even Roberts does n't seem convinced. She gives a rather blah performance, as if she 's not fully committed to the role... Rather than being a fascinating exploration of a much more constrained time in our social history, the film simply feels anachronistic. The film deserves a solid ' C ' for mediocrity and muted appeal. '' Critic Elizabeth M. Tamny of the Chicago Reader shared this negative assessment, writing `` Part of the problem is simply that Mona Lisa Smile is a Hollywood film, and Hollywood is n't good at depicting the life of the mind... And Julia Roberts is no help -- you either like her or you do n't, but either way it has little to do with talent. She 's not so much an actor as a vessel for earnest reactions. The fact is... It 's easier to take on an extremely black - and - white version of the most salient question from this film -- can women bake their cake and eat it too ? -- than try to answer it in the present. '' Reaction from Wellesley alumnae In a message to Wellesley alumnae concerning the film, Wellesley College president Diana Chapman Walsh expressed regret, given that many alumnae from the 1950s felt that the film 's portrayal of Wellesley was inaccurate. Campus controversy During the filming of Mona Lisa Smile, the Wellesley College campus broke into controversy surrounding the casting of student extras with use of the phrase `` not too tan '' in a casting call for current Wellesley students, sparking a fear that casting directors were using race to discriminate against potential extras. Producers claimed that they were merely stressing the importance of finding women that reflected the time period. The controversy spilled over into the local media, and producers considered a compromise of hiring willing minority students to act as production assistants. The college issued a press release highlighting the realities of Wellesley in 1953 and defending their decision to allow the film to shoot on campus. References Jump up ^ Lang, Brent ( September 1, 2011 ). `` ' Inside the Revolution Library : Where Joe Roth Went Wrong ''. TheWrap.com. Retrieved July 10, 2017. Jump up ^ Mona Lisa Smile at Box Office Mojo Jump up ^ Goldman, Lea ; Blakeley, Kiri ( January 17, 2007 ). `` The 20 Richest Women In Entertainment ''. Forbes. Retrieved July 15, 2011. Jump up ^ `` Weekend Box Office December 19 -- 21, 2003 ''. Box Office Mojo. Retrieved September 13, 2016. Jump up ^ Puig, Claudia ( December 19, 2003 ). `` Crooked ' Smile ' ''. USA Today. Jump up ^ Tamny, Elizabeth M. ( January 15, 2004 ). `` History Versus Her Story ''. Chicago Reader. Retrieved September 13, 2015. Jump up ^ Walsh, Diana Chapman ( January 9, 2004 ). `` Message from the President to Wellesley College alumnae concerning the film, Mona Lisa Smile ''. Wellesley College. Archived from the original on August 12, 2007. Retrieved August 19, 2012. Jump up ^ `` Wellesley College Is Among the Stars of the Film, `` Mona Lisa Smile '' ``. Wellesley College. December 3, 2003. Retrieved September 13, 2016. External links Wikiquote has quotations related to : Mona Lisa Smile John Walker. ( 2009 ). `` Mona Lisa Smile ( 2003 ) film review ( 2009 ) ''. artdesigncafe. Retrieved August 4, 2011. Julia Roberts interview for Mona Lisa Smile Mona Lisa Smile on IMDb Mona Lisa Smile at the TCM Movie Database Mona Lisa Smile at AllMovie Mona Lisa Smile at Box Office Mojo Mona Lisa Smile at Rotten Tomatoes Mona Lisa Smile at Metacritic Films directed by Mike Newell The Man in the Iron Mask ( 1977 ) The Awakening ( 1980 ) Bad Blood ( 1982 ) Birth of a Nation ( 1983 ) Dance with a Stranger ( 1985 ) The Good Father ( 1985 ) Amazing Grace and Chuck ( 1987 ) Soursweet ( 1988 ) Enchanted April ( 1992 ) Into the West ( 1992 ) Four Weddings and a Funeral ( 1994 ) An Awfully Big Adventure ( 1995 ) Donnie Brasco ( 1997 ) Pushing Tin ( 1999 ) Mona Lisa Smile ( 2003 ) Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire ( 2005 ) Love in the Time of Cholera ( 2007 ) Prince of Persia : The Sands of Time ( 2010 ) Great Expectations ( 2012 ) The Interestings ( 2016 ) Guernsey ( 2018 ) VIAF : 316752106 GND : 4794340 - 3 Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mona_Lisa_Smile&oldid=804544100 '' Categories : 2003 films 2000s romantic drama films American coming - of - age films American romantic drama films American films English - language films Italian - language films Feminist films Films directed by Mike Newell Films about educators Films set in 1953 Films set in Massachusetts Films shot in Connecticut Films shot in New York ( state ) Films shot in New Jersey Films shot in Massachusetts Films shot in California Films shot in Arizona Revolution Studios films Columbia Pictures films Films set in universities and colleges Hidden categories : Wikipedia articles with plot summary needing attention from December 2013 All Wikipedia articles with plot summary needing attention Articles with hAudio microformats Album infoboxes lacking a cover Music infoboxes with deprecated parameters All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from March 2016 Wikipedia articles with VIAF identifiers Wikipedia articles with GND identifiers Talk Contents About Wikipedia Wikiquote Català Čeština Dansk Deutsch Eesti Ελληνικά Español Euskara فارسی Français 한국어 Հայերեն Italiano עברית ქართული Кыргызча Македонски Nederlands 日本 語 Norsk Polski Português Русский Simple English Slovenščina Српски / srpski Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски Suomi Svenska Türkçe Українська Tiếng Việt 中文 Edit links This page was last edited on 9 October 2017, at 18 : 10. 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Question: where is wellesley college in mona lisa smile
Answer: in Massachusetts