 mona lisa smile is a 2003 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 performanceâthe highest ever earned by an actress.  ==plot==  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, because she wants to make a difference and influence the next generation of women. at her first class, katherine discovers that the girls have already memorized the entire syllabus from the textbook, so she instead uses the classes to introduce them to modern art and encourages spirited classroom discussions about topics such as what makes good art and what the mona lisa's smile means. this brings her into conflict with the conservative college president (marian seldes), who warns katherine to stick to the syllabus if she wants to keep her job. katherine comes to know many of the students in her class well and seeks to inspire them to achieve more for themselves as intell
2000s_romantic_drama_films 2003_films American_coming-of-age_films American_romantic_drama_films Columbia_Pictures_films English-language_films Feminist_films Films_about_educators Films_directed_by_Mike_Newell Films_set_in_1953 Films_set_in_Massachusetts Films_set_in_schools Films_set_in_the_1950s Films_shot_in_Arizona Films_shot_in_California Films_shot_in_Connecticut Films_shot_in_Massachusetts Films_shot_in_New_Jersey Films_shot_in_New_York Italian-language_films Revolution_Studios_films