PLOT: One sister is an accomplished lawyer, the other sister is a party animal. Aside from all that, both women are unhappy and each must learn how to change her life and deal with family issues.
In Her Shoes is billed as a comedy and it has a chick-flick premise -- frumpy, successful sister versus beautiful, screw-up sister -- but that's all surface. This is a film with a dramatic heart and plenty to say about family. Based on the bestselling novel by Jennifer Weiner, the film is somewhat scrambled and much too long, but for entertainment value and general appeal, In Her Shoes is well worth seeing.
For starters, it has some terrific performances.
Cameron Diaz stars as Maggie, a young woman whose beauty suggests a perfect life. Wrong. Maggie is drunk and attempting to have sex with a stranger in a hotel bathroom as In Her Shoes begins. Maggie is dyslectic, almost unemployable and fully aware that she can coast on her good looks. She's a user.
Toni Collette is Rose, a Princeton grad and powerful lawyer. Rose is intelligent, vaguely frumpy and quite unhappy in her skin. All she and her sister Maggie share is a shoe size. Rose has spent many years cleaning up the messes Maggie creates.
Still, they are sisters and they do love each other.
But after a particularly ugly falling-out, Maggie and Rose go their separate ways. Luckily, Maggie has discovered a grandmother in Florida, a relative both sisters thought was dead.
Grandmother (Shirley MacLaine) is an attractive, self-contained woman who no longer cares to risk her emotions. She lost her daughter, Maggie and Rose's mother, in tragic circumstances. She has no idea why her granddaughters haven't contacted her in many years. She is thrilled to find Maggie again. On her side, Maggie hopes to freeload heavily in the Sunshine State. Grandma has other ideas.
In Her Shoes is needlessly plot-heavy, considering that it's about character development and subtle change, and on three fronts, no less. Nonetheless, this is a movie with all manner of surprises in style, storytelling and sensibility. It concerns serious sibling rivalry, mental illness, old people, good poetry and a lot of other elements not generally found in big Hollywood movies.
In Her Shoes is directed by Curtis Hanson, who also directed such films as L.A. Confidential, 8 Mile and Wonder Boys.
BOTTOM LINE: Not the chick flick it appears to be, but an intelligent look at how families work (or don't) and how women perceive themselves in the world. Too long and sometimes meandering, but good entertainment value overall.
(This film is rated PG)
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