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 to the song of the same name, originally performed by Nat King Cole, which was covered by Seal for the film.

Outspoken conservative Betty Warren writes editorials for the college paper, and insists that a universal standard exists for what is good art.

She attacks Katherine for advocating that women seek careers in addition to marriage and exposes campus nurse and lesbian Amanda Armstrong for supplying contraception to students, resulting in her termination.

Upon learning Bill never served in Italy and was only stationed at the Army Languages Center on Long Island, Katherine ends the relationship.

Despite disapproving of Katherine's progressive teaching methods, Wellesley administrators invite her to return the following year as her course is extremely popular, but only under strict conditions.

[4] In its first weekend, Mona Lisa Smile opened at number two at the U.S. box office, earning US$11,528,498 behind The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.

On Rotten Tomatoes, it has a 33% approval rating based on 150 reviews, with an average score of 4.9/10 and a consensus: "Though Mona Lisa Smile espouses the value of breaking barriers, the movie itself is predictable."

[6] 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 doesn'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.

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?

There are hints that the script (credited to Mark Rosenthal and Lawrence Konner) may once have had more shadings - a suggestion that Katherine's idealism is a form of power-tripping; that she's afraid of intimacy - but any ambiguity is quickly brushed aside to make way for the Julia lovefest.