A forward-thinking art history professor finds herself teaching at a traditional all girl college. She quickly finds the students to be fast learners but strives to break them of their limited expectations of what a woman's life can be.

Teacher gets through to bratty kids and learns something unexpected about themselves in the process...certainly not the most original concept in cinema, but Mona Lisa Smile is focused pretty well on the changing roles of women in the 1950's. This gives the movie a purpose and it is populated with characters that are almost compelling. The young female students played by Dunst, Stiles and Gyllenhaal are all on the verge of being very interesting but they end up being generalizations as the film focuses much more on Roberts' duck-out-of-water art history professor role. She proves to be pretty interesting but never a "tragic figure" we feel the need to have empathy for. And opportunities were missed to draw comparisons and symbolism between art and life.

Mona Lisa Smile is certainly a movie that may appeal to women more than men and is an altogether decent effort at making a good film.

Directed by Mike Newell.