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Movie Review - In Her Shoes (2005)
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(What this rating means)
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| Director: |
Curtis Hanson |
| Starring: |
Cameron Diaz, Toni Collette, Shirley MacLaine, and Mark Feuerstein |
| Rated: |
PG-13 (for thematic material, language and some sexual content) |
| Length: |
130 minutes |
| Genre: |
Dramedy/Chick Flick |
| Tagline: |
Friends. Rivals. Sisters. |
| Studio: |
20th Century Fox |
| Website: |
In Her Shoes |
| Release: |
October 7, 2005 |
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PLOT
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Maggie (Diaz) is a party girl who has about as much trouble keeping a real job as she does reading. Mooching off
family members and guys who quickly drool over her is her modus operandi (for those of you in Frayser that's Latin
for "mode of operation"). Her sister Rose (Collette), on the other hand, is a little more grounded. She's a
successful lawyer, but she doesn't exactly thrive in areas of love and self-confidence.
To make a long story short, the sisters clash, have a huge falling out, Maggie heads to Florida to find their
long lost grandmother, Rose eventually heads down there, stuff happens to make all the females in the audience
cry, the end. A chick flick that I enjoyed more than I should probably admit ensues.
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JOHNNY'S TAKE
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CHICK FLICK! Chiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiick fliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiick! What else could you possibly expect from a
movie about sisters that involves shoes and a search for their grandmother? That's all you need to know. You
either like the genre, you don't like the genre, or your girl forces you to watch the genre with her. Accept
which one applies to you and go with it. If you're chickflicktose intolerant then this obviously isn't for
you.
That being said, I must admit that thanks to good character and relationship development, good acting, and
believable characters set within a believable story, I enjoyed it. Granted, Cameron Diaz's long legs might
have had something to do with enhancing my enjoyment, but I was entertained nonetheless.
Things start off a little slow as the relationship between the sisters is allowed to grow, but once Maggie
finds herself in Florida, working at an old folks' home, the story and laughs start to pick up. There's
one old woman who is particularly funny. I don't know her name (you'll recognize her by the fact that she's
in a wheelchair most of the time), but she reminded me of my grandmother, commenting on how Diaz "puts a postage
stamp on her bottom and calls it a swimsuit" and acting shocked that there are now pants that exist with
"'juicy' written across the hiney." How can you not be entertained by a crotchety old woman's outlook on how
the times have a-changed?
If reading comprehension has got you down and you're still struggling with whether or not you want to see this,
let me break it down even further. This is a story about the love between sisters. They fight, they drift apart,
they find out their grandmother is still alive, and they make their way back to each other. All sorts of lessons
on love, self-discovery, romance, and who owns whose heart are explored. There's even some sappy poetry reading
thrown in for good measure. I know that this all sounds like a huge shot of estrogen, but thankfully, things
never get as syrupy as you might expect.
That doesn't mean there's any shortage of attempts to strain a tear out of the female (and non-manly) eyes. I
almost missed out on some dialogue thanks to the sniffling of the four ladies sitting in front of me. So gals,
bring your tissues. Guys, if your gal brings you along then bring the sewing kit. You'll need to sew 'em back
on after this one. All right, everybody knows what to expect now, so enjoy.
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ODDS & ENDS
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- Based on the novel by Jennifer Weiner.
- Johnny has some family members from Weiner, Arkansas.
- Toni Collette gained 20 pounds for the role.
- This isn't exactly what you might expect from the director of 8 mile and L.A.
Confidential.
- Cameron Diaz's name in the movie is Maggie Feller. Say "I'm a smart feller feller feller smart" 10 times real
fast. Hey, don't complain to me. Talk to my cousins who taught me this when I was about 11 years old.
- Cameron Diaz was in Gangs of New York with John C. Reilly who was in Nightwatch with Josh Brolin
who was in Hollow Man with Kevin Bacon.
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MAMA'S APPROVAL
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Mama can handle an edited-for-TV version of this. Profanity isn't too extreme. There are a handful of "s" words
and at least one G-d**n. There are at least three scenes of sexuality, and Cameron Diaz can be seen walking
around in skimpy underwear for a few minutes. You'll definitely want to leave the pre-teens home for this one.
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TRAILER COMPARISON
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It's a chick flick! The trailer makes that loud and clear. If you expected anything else then I really feel
sorry for you and your lack of ability to judge movie trailers.
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THE GIST
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I said it in the review and I'll reiterate it here: you either like chick flicks, you don't like them, or your
girl forces you to watch them with her. Choose the one that best applies to you and go from there. However,
this one does rise a little higher than the genre norm thanks to strong, believable acting and a story that
is ultimately somewhat engaging.
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