Mona Lisa Smile (DVD)

Mona Lisa Smile enjoyed a very lackluster performance at the box-office and in response this DVD offers none of the special features we have come to enjoy.

Without any audio commentary, deleted scenes or outtakes the DVD version of Mona Lisa Smile offers nothing more than a so-so movie and a couple of featurettes that offer no additional incentive to purchase this DVD if you were looking for one.

Mona Lisa Smile tells the story of Katherine Watson (Roberts) who accepts a job at the prestigious all-female Wellesley College, where she will teach art, little did she know, the college is more of a front to educate the housewives of the future.

The story develops as Katherine attempts to change the girls' thinking, and get them to start thinking more about themselves rather than be satisfied walking a pre-determined path.

Starring Julia Roberts, Kirsten Dunst, Julia Stiles, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Marcia Gay Harden I expected a lot more than I got from this flick when I saw it in the theater.

The quality of the movie aside the one area this DVD certainly falls short is in the special features department where it offers up three short featurettes, a music video, "who cares" filmographies and a bunch of trailers.

Taking a look at the featurettes, we have the first one titled "Art Forum", which is pretty much listening to the thoughts of the cast members on what they think of art in general, and is really quite boring as are the following two titled "College Then and Now" and "What Women Wanted: 1953".

These final two features are pretty self-explanatory and are in no way worth watching unless you have so much time on your hands that the other option would be to chew on your wrist.

As for the Elton John music video for "The Heart of Every Girl," which is featured during the end credits of the film, it is nothing to write home about. So if you like the song you may enjoy it once or twice, if not, I wouldn't be surprised if you never even checked it out.

Now I am a sucker for movies like this, but Mona Lisa Smile just seemed to have that something missing that would have made it special. I was never impressed with the ending and quite disappointed in one of my favorite actresses, Julia Stiles, for her poor performance.

I can't recommend you buy this DVD, it really comes down to whether you liked the movie or not. If you are on the fence, rent it, and see for yourself if you would like it up on the shelf.