MONA LISA SMILE

Starring: Julia Roberts, Kirsten Dunst, Julia Stiles, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Ginnifer Goodwin, Dominic West, Juliet Stevenson, Marcia Gay Harden, John Slattery, Topher Grace

GENRE: Drama ce

CERTIFICATE: 12A

GUIDE: No swearing, sex or violence

American college administrator William Arthur Ward once noted: "The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires."

Mona Lisa Smile is a syrupy tale of scholarly ambition about a great teacher who inspires her flock of impressionable young girls to flaunt convention and follow their dreams.

Or, at least, that's the idea.

It is 1953 and recent UCLA graduate Katherine Watson (Roberts) moves from California to leafy New England to take up an art history teaching position at the traditional and conformist Wellesley College.

Unlike the other teachers, Katherine encourages her students to think for themselves and she urges them to follow their hearts, encouraging her most talented girls like Joan (Stiles) and Giselle (Gyllenhaal) to reach their potential.

Even shy and introverted Connie (Goodwin) gains the confidence to break through her insecurities by following Ms Watson's example.

However, upper crust Betty Warren (Dunst), whose mother pulls the purse strings on the board of governors, resents Katherine's challenge to the status quo and she openly defies her new teacher - and the battle lines are drawn.

Mona Lisa Smile is oestrogen-fuelled melodrama-by-numbers (Think Dead Poetess Society or The Prime Of Ms Julia Broody).

The plot is achingly predictable and the talented ensemble cast is squandered in two-dimensional roles, even if Dunst plays her role with gusto, while Roberts is undeniably luminous but unconvincing.