By Kasey Schiedeck | Images property of 20th Century Fox
In Her Shoes
In Her Shoes is a chick flick if ever
there was one. Needless to say; however, men schlepped to the theater by
an eager female companion will surely be entertained as well by the ever
restricted Cameron Diaz in her slinky party dresses and itty bitty bikinis,
always at the ready with a flash of cleavage. The remainder of the movie,
thankfully, follows an actual story far beyond the dainty black pumps that
appear during the opening credits like something straight out of an episode
of Sex and the City.
In Her Shoes Review
In Her Shoes, based on a novel by chick
lit fave Jennifer Weiner, explores the bond between two sisters meant to
be total opposites. Diaz's Maggie Feller is a wild, near thirty party girl,
uneducated and unemployed. Her sister Rose (Collette) is a single, shy attorney
with weight and dating issues whose hum drum life is interrupted when Maggie
comes to stay in her apartment after being thrown out of their father's
home. Maggie languishes for a few weeks eyeing Rose's gorgeous new boyfriend.
She eventually does to Rose the unthinkable and is justly thrown out again.
She manages to locate her long lost grandmother (MacLaine) in sunny Florida
and takes up residence at her retirement home. Meanwhile, Rose quits her
job and finds true love with a dorky but likeable former associate, Simon
(Feuerstein), right off the heels of a bad breakup. Complications arise
right on cue, all to be resolved by the film's end; luckily, there is a
thick river of emotion running through the film, preventing an easy but
lowly escape into the pool of sentimentality.
In Her Shoes
Diaz plays Maggie with a genuine sweetness but fails to capitalize on sympathy.
When going for vulnerability, she actually winds up looking like a whiny
puppy sniffing for the next treat. MacLaine is a favorable mixture of nuisance
and pain. Francis Bears makes a candid appearance as Ella's peachy friend
Mrs. Lefkowitz, appearing to have been freshly plucked out the Golden
Girls. Unsurprisingly, Collette's portrayal of a suffering Rose is
the strongest of the cast.
Working from an adapted screenplay by Susannah Grant, director Curtis Hanson
safely studies pragmatism vs. impracticality and the dreams we deny in search
of safety. The bond between the sisters is of great importance to the premise
of In Her Shoes, and in the careful hands of Hanson, that portrayal
of the dear relationships relied upon during our journey through life is
appropriately displayed with a perfect mix of drama and comedy. The film
drags at the end, trying to clean up every last scrap of disaster, but it
is genuinely worthy of a glance.
In Her Shoes (PG-13)
20th Century Fox
Director: Curtis Hanson
Screenwriter: Susannah Grant
Based on the novel by: Jennifer Weiner
Running Time: 131 minutes
Maggie Feller: Cameron Diaz
Rose Feller: Toni Collette
Ella Hirsch: Shirley MacLaine
Simon Stein: Mark Feuerstein
Michael Feller: Ken Howard
Sydelle Feller: Candice Azzara
Mrs. Lefkowitz: Francine Bears
In Her Shoes
In Her Shoes
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