I’ve never been much of a Cameron Diaz fan. Sure, I’ve seen (and liked) a bunch of her films, but I did so in spite of her rather than because of her. And I’ve never felt compelled to watch one of her movies more than once — not even There’s Something About Mary. So I wasn’t in a huge rush to see In Her Shoes, the 2005 Curtis Hanson film that also stars Toni Collette and Shirley MacLaine.
I finally did get around to it, however, and was pleasantly surprised at what I saw. Again, Diaz wasn’t the highlight of the film for me, but at least she didn’t bug as much as she normally does.
She stars as a completely aimless woman named Maggie Feller. Though in her late 20’s or early 30’s, Maggie doesn’t have a job or a place of her own. Instead, she spends time shuttling between her father’s house and her sister’s apartment, depending on who will put up with her for the time being.
Maggie’s sister Rose (played by Collette) is the complete opposite of her. Rose is a lawyer who is smart, successful, and independent. In addition, Rose is the “plain” sister, while Maggie is the better-looking one who has no trouble getting men to sleep with her.
That turns into a problem when one of Maggie’s conquests happens to be a guy that Rose was starting to really like. When Rose walks in on them, she understandably flips out and tells Maggie that she never wants to see her again.
The rest of the movie follows each sister separately as they try to carry on without each other. Maggie goes to find her long-lost grandmother (MacLaine) in Florida, while Rose quits her job and then takes up with an ex co-worker named Simon (Mark Feuerstein).
I thought In Her Shoes was an excellent movie about female relationships and the bond of sisterhood. The first 30 minutes dragged a big, but after that, the story became very interesting and engrossing. I was worried that this was going to be just another chick flick, but that wasn’t the case at all.
Toni Collette and Shirley MacLaine both turned in wonderful performances here. I vaguely remembered Collette as the mom in The Sixth Sense, but haven’t really seen her in anything else, so her turn as Rose was a nice surprise. MacLaine, of course, is a great actress, so I was definitely expecting a solid outing from her (and wasn’t disappointed).
I give this movie 7 stars out of 10 and definitely recommend that you see it!