Truly Dreadful Film

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Curtis Hanson's In Her Shoes leads you down a treacly opening act that thoroughly seems like it's headed for chick flick territory, and then does a 180 degree turn into something far more mature and thoughtful. Hanson helmed the classic L.A. Confidential which had no end of jarring plot revelations, which he employs here in a softer, more genre appropriate fashion, losing none of the intrigue and believability to the character's actions. Anyone who has claimed in the past that Cameron Diaz is lacking in the talent department and is just another pretty face need only watch her turn in this. She plays Maggie, a slutty, sexually careless soul who has meandered through her twenties with no clear path or idea where her life is headed. She has no talents, no drive, and constantly leans on her older, more established sister Rose (Toni Colette) for support and security. Rose is loving and understanding, until a reprehensible incident involving her asshole boss (Richard Burgi) drives the two of them apart, forcing each to reevaluate their lives, their relationship to each other and the path in life they are headed for. Maggie runs off to their estranged Grandmother played by Shirley MacLaine, showing grounded reserve framing a slowly melting heart that's still raw from old wounds involving the girls long deceased mother (Ivana Milicivec). The dynamic between Diaz and Collette is excellent because they are so different. Rose is unsure, frumpy, and endlessly insecure, not helped by Maggie's magnetic sex appeal and bubbly carefree disposition. Rose is the rooted tree, terrified of change and spontaneity but in danger of placid rot, while Maggie is a dancing kite, flying high in fresh air but altogether untethered and in danger of flying to far, and getting lost. Collette is fantastically intuitive even when no dialogue is present, giving Rose a buried vitality that claws to break free from her timid chrysalis. Diaz rocks it too, reigning in her trademark perkiness especially in scenes with an elderly professor at the hospice centre who teaches her about poetry. It's unassuming first act makes the later story all the more rewarding for audiences who like their relationship dramedies to have some substance to ground them. Highly recommended.

Rose Fellow (Toni Collette) is a hard working straight laced lawyer. Her sister Maggie (Cameron Diaz) is a hot drunken mess who can't keep a job. They have a massive fight after Maggie sleeps with Rose's boyfriend. Maggie becomes homeless and starts living with a grandmother (Shirley MacLaine) neither knew. Meanwhile Rose quits her job and starts a dog walking business.This movie is too unnecessarily slow. Toni Collette is great and Cameron Diaz is interesting. They have a great scene together. But the great scenes in this movie are separated by too much filler. Cameron Diaz could be darker. The drama simmers along for far too long. The sisters are great together but the movie's not as explosive separated. The long middle is held back as we wait for the inevitable reunion.

On the surface, Curtis Hanson's 'In Her Shoes' might look like just another typical sugarcoated 'Sex and the City' type garbage movie but it certainly ain't that. Yes, there is a lot of commercialism but the movie has tremendous depth. The story is well written and the focus is fractured relationships. While the main focus is on the dysfunctional relationship between two sisters and between their estranged grandmother, the story is universal because anyone can relate to it.Maggie and Rose are two sisters who couldn't have been more different. Rose is the slightly introverted workaholic lawyer and Maggie is the party animal who can't hold a job for more than a few days. Both sisters have low self esteem and while they love each other and have their good moments, there are times when they pick on the worst of each other and while being afraid to appear vulnerable. Things take a drastic turn when Maggie does the unthinkable that separates both sisters...The story is well told and it deals with themes that would appeal to audiences of all ages. The characters are very well developed and the humour works excellently. The dialogues are solid. The movie has a polished look which works in its benefits. I also liked the significance of the shoes as they have a more symbolic representation in the movie than mere commercial products.Collette and Diaz are spellbinding. They really appear like sisters on screen and as granddaughters to Maclaine's character. Maclaine is terrific as the estranged grandmother who tried to maintain a relationship with the granddaughters but was robbed of that. I enjoyed their scenes the most. The scenes at the retirement house were a delight to watch. All the actors who play the senior citizens residing in the house were fun to watch. The only performance that left a lot to be desired was that of the actor who played the father. He came across as wooden. In all fairness to him his character required some development.'In her Shoes' is both funny and engaging. The superb mixture of comedy and drama, the real characters and their realistically identifiable situations are what makes the film stand out. It's definitely an enjoyable watch and one gets more than a few laughs from it as after the end credits role, you might wanna check in on your sibling and grandparent.

There is a scene early on in In Her Shoes where sisters Maggie and Rose offer their respective philosophies on life with the aid of a pair of shoes. The promiscuous, immature Maggie (Cameron Diaz) vaunts the life of 'scandal and passion' inbuilt into sexy high heels. Well-ordered Rose (Toni Collette), on the other hand, finds comfort in their steadfastness: 'Shoes always fit'. The scene is fairly reductive of its characters- one of the pitfalls of the 'chick-flick'- but can be forgiven for its placement at the beginning of the film. It sketches Maggie and Rose in broad strokes, but thankfully the nuanced performances of Diaz and Collette develop satisfyingly complex characters as the film progresses.Maggie leeches off of her loved ones, while, conversely, Rose's practise of helping her sister has grown blunt and forceful with years of disappointment. In such crossfire of over-reliance and overbearingness, the sisters inevitably come to a crossroads, and spend the middle portion of the film apart. Rose learns to relinquish responsibility in work and in romance, while Maggie learns to cope with it at the Florida retirement community of the sisters' estranged grandmother (a splendid Shirley Maclaine).Under the direction of Curtis Hanson, the film matures with its protagonists. The initial relationship of the hot mess and her stuffy sister sidesteps cliché and implausibility by layering the characters with likenesses, not least in their unfurling vulnerabilities. Hanson's style of simple, unfussy storytelling and concern for characters saves the film from the potentially mawkish moments of Jennifer Weiner's source novel. Maggie's dyslexia and the sisters' contrasting responses to their family history of mental illness smacks of crude characterization- the former is linked to Maggie's immaturity, while the latter reinforces the sisters' dissimilarity- but Hanson handles this material with a delicate touch. The trio of Hanson, Diaz and Collette underplay these scenes, and the result is quietly affecting.With its warm depiction of the turbulence of sisterhood, the film is occasionally funny and touching, and always entertaining. In Her Shoes doesn't tread new ground. It simply shows that the 'chick-flick' needn't be as patronizing as the label suggests. A pleasure, without the guilt.