Mona Lisa Smile

Trivia: In one scene, Julia Roberts takes her students to see a painting by Jackson Pollock. Julia's co-star Marcia Gay Harden won her Academy Award playing Pollock's wife in the movie "Pollock," opposite Ed Harris, who incidentally played Julia's boyfriend/fiancé in "Stepmom." (00:45:20)

Sonja Marie

Factual error: When Julia Roberts and her roommate are in their living room and "I Love Lucy" comes on the TV, the opening theme song is accompanied by the traditional heart with "I Love Lucy" written on it. However, this movie takes place in 1953-1954, and that opening for the show wasn't used until the show was put in syndication many years later. During the show's primary run, cartoon characters of Lucy and Ricky opened the show. (00:13:50)

More mistakes in Mona Lisa Smile

Staunton's Secretary: I was in California once. How do you get any work done with all that sunshine?
Katherine Watson: We tan in class.

More quotes from Mona Lisa Smile

Question: What does the title have to do with the story, other than the reference to a work of art? I know many people think that the real Mona Lisa has a mysterious smile, but does that have anything to do with the film?

Krista

Chosen answer: There is a short discussion (I believe between Kirsten Dunst and Julia Roberts) about things not always being what they seem. They are speaking about the girls' lives, but it also is symbolic of the Mona Lisa smile. Whether she is really smiling is left up to the person viewing the portrait: is she smiling because she is happy? Is she trying to cover up grief/sorrow? Is she smiling at all?

Macalou

More questions & answers from Mona Lisa Smile

Join the mailing list

Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.