Julia Roberts put a few bums on seats playing a forward-thinking art professor in Mona Lisa Smile, Mike Newell's tale of 50s college girls having to reconcile societal expectations with their personal ambitions. We called it "stomach-churning, stupid and avoidable", although many did not take heed. Released in the run-up to Oscar time, it failed to pick up any nominations in spite of its worthy feminist themes. So who's smiling now?

Arty Farty

The earnest pondering that characterised the film translates to this DVD release, which is mainly comprised of three featurettes. The Art Forum is the most pompous, asking the stars of the film to reflect upon the importance of art and aesthetics through the ages. When asked about Mona Lisa's smile, Maggie Gyllenhaal highlights the sheer windiness of this exercise by observing: "She looks like she's thinking or feeling something complicated." Somewhere, Sister Wendy Beckett hangs her head in shame.

Julia Roberts also drops a few clangers in College: Then And Now. On the film's investigation into how far women have come since the corseted confines of the 50s, she says, "It's a work of fiction steeped in factuality."

If you learn anything from this disc, it's that only Hollywood stars and politicians possess the skill of talking a lot without saying anything at all. The only genuine insight offered on the making of the film is the fact that its cast of young women had to endure an "etiquette boot camp" to correct their posture and table manners, thus preserving the authenticity of the period. Wow.

Kitsch-en Sink?

What Women Wanted In 1953 rehashes what's previously been said, and adds a few points about the way consumerism has actually taken a tighter hold on society in the last five decades. But you probably already knew that, along with the fact that the 50s were a stifling decade for women, and that its picture-perfect image of domestic life was really just a polished veneer hiding a deep-rooted dissatisfaction with the expectation to conform. If not, you might find this featurette vaguely interesting.

Mike Newell doesn’t have much to say for himself on any of the above points, and accordingly, doesn't offer a director's commentary. It's perhaps just as well, because the level of philosophising offered by its stars produces so much hot air it could make the Mona Lisa crack.

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