You're listening to the Beautiful Mess podcast, your cozy comfort listen, and this week we're dissecting a favorite comfort watch movie for decor and home inspiration. This one is perfect if you need something to get in the autumn mood. This is an ongoing series for us, and this week's selection is Mona Lisa Smile from 2003.

We'll also be sharing a book report and our best ideas for freezer meals.

Don't forget about the freezer meals.

No, I am so excited to talk about this movie. I feel like it's perfect for the beginning of

fall. It's just now September. And like just the whole

movie, the aesthetic of it, it's set in what, the 60s? The 50s or the 60s. Yeah, 50s? I want

to say the mid-50s. I feel like they say at one point, 19-54 or something. Like, it's just very like

plaid and autumnal and it's very, very, very nice. So if you haven't watched it, I hadn't watched it since it came out. So like around 20 years ago, I hadn't watched it one single time. And I watched it recently. And I was like, oh, we have to do this one next because it's just so joyful and beautiful. And I felt like it really held up the story.

Like, I love the story. I think it's really cute. I love them in the acting. Obviously, there's so

many celebrities in it and that's really fun. Yeah, but I think my favorite thing is I just like love

the aesthetic of it. Oh yeah. It's beautiful. It's worth a watch just for the sets and the costumes and stuff, but it's also a fun movie. I will say, though. Have you seen Dead Poets Society yet? I know we've talked about it on the podcast. So I was curious if this was like that they made like Dead Po poet society but female like immediately afterwards is that

what happened i feel like some movie exec walked into a room and was like we need a girl dead poet

society so i'm going to get a couple of male writers and a male director and we'll get this done no

problem and that's how this movie came to be. And it is beautiful and worth watching. But I would say to me, and I'll probably talk about this, like the worst part is the script. By lot. Okay. We want to carry your detailed notes. Yeah. So anyway, yes. But if you haven't seen Dead Poet Society, it's great. It's kind of like this, though, where it's like oddball teacher comes to a school to shake things up kind of vibe. And the students at first are like, they don't know about this. And then they end up loving them. Yeah. And it changes their lives for the good. Similar thing here, which is great. I love that story arc. I love that idea. Very fun. Yeah, but it had too many cliches.

I just feel like they didn't nail feminism. And for the theme they were going for, I'm like, but why this then? But why this then? And I also feel like most of the students didn't really change that

much, except for Kirsten Dunst, who really steals the show. There's a lot of all the actors in

this movie actually are amazing and bringing their A games. Like, the performances are A pluses in this

movie. But Kirsten Dunst steals the show because you hate her character. She's such a

her character. And then by the end, she has this huge arc where she changes. And I believe it.

And it's good. Yeah. So I feel like that one, it's incredible. It's good. But some of the other

ones, you're like, I'm not sure if they learned anything from the teacher, just more like they were in college and growing up. And that's cool, you know, like, I don't know. And then, yeah, I feel like they give Julia Roberts, who plays the teacher. So she's a feminist. She's unmarried. Big deal in this time. Unmarried woman comes to a conservative school and is teaching the other women at the school to be feminist.

Yeah.

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