Sunday, January 11, 2004
So I kinda sold out myself...
...and went to watch Mona Lisa Smile. Despite deriding it as a "chick flick". Despite not liking Julia Roberts. Despite wanting to catch School of Rock instead.
Fortunately, I liked the movie.
Unfortunately, though, I will probably miss School of Rock because of this. Oh well, at least I can still claim I picked twenty-year-old females over twelve-year-old girls. But Rebecca Brown (the bass player) is SO darn cute, it's sinful.
ANYWAY.
I thought lookalikes Kirsten Dunst and Maggie Gyllenhall played some of their best roles ever in the movie.
Dunst (who along with Christina Ricci will always remain my two silver screen goddesses even when they grow old) plays Betty Warren, a headstrong, unabashed, arrogant student who, exploting her heritage as the daughter of the Board's Chairwoman (I think), proceeds to run her own style of justice via the school paper. She forces the sacking of the school nurse when contraceptives are being distributed and later threatens to ruin the reputation of the new Art History lecturer (played by Roberts). I will admit that some of the many critics are right -- Dunst is a little too overrated. Nonetheless, I will stand by my belief that few are able to match her ability to capture the screen from the rest of the cast.
One of those, however, is rising star Maggie Gyllenhaal, who plays Giselle Levy. Arguably the most believable character in the movie, Giselle is an emotional roller-coaster. She is introduced to the audience as the "one who is always horny" and that more or less sets the bar for a good portion of the show. Giselle flirts, smokes, acts very bimbotic (the kind I despise with a vehemence, though, for some reason, it had the opposite effect this time around), and basically appears to be a total wreck midway through the plot. However, by the end of the movie, Giselle turns out to be the strongest character and a pillar of support for the other girls in her dorm room.
Mona Lisa Smile suffers from several poorly paced scenes, but the overall effect is one of great vindication, for both men and women in the audience. While I will still avoid "chick flicks" like the plague, I'm glad to say this one went beyond my expectations.
Highly recommended.
ON HINDSIGHT: The movie was written by the same people who did the highly acclaimed Star Trek VI, as well as the flop Superman IV. Not to mention the modern version of Planet of the Apes - which didn't go down too well. I wonder what they smoke.
...and went to watch Mona Lisa Smile. Despite deriding it as a "chick flick". Despite not liking Julia Roberts. Despite wanting to catch School of Rock instead.
Fortunately, I liked the movie.
Unfortunately, though, I will probably miss School of Rock because of this. Oh well, at least I can still claim I picked twenty-year-old females over twelve-year-old girls. But Rebecca Brown (the bass player) is SO darn cute, it's sinful.
ANYWAY.
I thought lookalikes Kirsten Dunst and Maggie Gyllenhall played some of their best roles ever in the movie.
Dunst (who along with Christina Ricci will always remain my two silver screen goddesses even when they grow old) plays Betty Warren, a headstrong, unabashed, arrogant student who, exploting her heritage as the daughter of the Board's Chairwoman (I think), proceeds to run her own style of justice via the school paper. She forces the sacking of the school nurse when contraceptives are being distributed and later threatens to ruin the reputation of the new Art History lecturer (played by Roberts). I will admit that some of the many critics are right -- Dunst is a little too overrated. Nonetheless, I will stand by my belief that few are able to match her ability to capture the screen from the rest of the cast.
One of those, however, is rising star Maggie Gyllenhaal, who plays Giselle Levy. Arguably the most believable character in the movie, Giselle is an emotional roller-coaster. She is introduced to the audience as the "one who is always horny" and that more or less sets the bar for a good portion of the show. Giselle flirts, smokes, acts very bimbotic (the kind I despise with a vehemence, though, for some reason, it had the opposite effect this time around), and basically appears to be a total wreck midway through the plot. However, by the end of the movie, Giselle turns out to be the strongest character and a pillar of support for the other girls in her dorm room.
Mona Lisa Smile suffers from several poorly paced scenes, but the overall effect is one of great vindication, for both men and women in the audience. While I will still avoid "chick flicks" like the plague, I'm glad to say this one went beyond my expectations.
Highly recommended.
ON HINDSIGHT: The movie was written by the same people who did the highly acclaimed Star Trek VI, as well as the flop Superman IV. Not to mention the modern version of Planet of the Apes - which didn't go down too well. I wonder what they smoke.
