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Maggie (Cameron Diaz) and Rose (Toni Colette) are sisters who are poles apart.
Maggie suffers from severe dyslexia (inability to read) while Rose is an accomplished lawyer. Rose hides her imperfect figure in priggish clothes, and buys sexy shoes she never wears; Maggie flaunts her model physique and without compunction nor permission wears her sister's shoes. Maggie gets drunk at parties, makes it out in a toilet and collapses to sleep in other people's couches; Rose collects her and brings her home. Unable to find a job despite Rose's help, Maggie floats along merrily, freeloading off her sister's bounty until one day, when Rose catches her with her pants down, in bed with Rose's boyfriend. Rose drives Maggie out of her flat and her life; Maggie eventually finds Ella (Shirley MacLaine), the grandmother they never knew they had. Life takes an interesting turn.
In Her Shoes starts out looking every frame like a dime-a-dozen chick flick -- but not for long. There's a good story there, carried to a polished end by excellent casting and acting. Some viewers may think it is contrived -- it sounding too good to be real, but then again, other viewers will swear real life is stranger than fiction, so…? Diaz is eye candy anytime, and here she does the role justice by her versatility: from flirt par excellence to pathetic illiterate who can't handle her A-B-C. MacLaine plays a smart grandma, a role that fits her to a T, while Colette lends depth and extra bite to her role as the toothy, unpretty, uninteresting and unglamorous character.
While on the surface In Her Shoes may seem harmless enough -- and even packed with
wholesome values for adolescents -- more mature viewers are cautioned against encouraging young teens to watch this movie.
There are a lot of bad habits (in Maggie's person) here that just might seem okay because they're left unexamined, like stealing money from family members, having sex as a sport and a premarital preoccupation, coveting other people's goods, refusing to grow up, etc.
In Her Shoes
tries to present a balanced picture by also emphasizing good values like sibling loyalty, family bonds, forgiveness, and people's courageous response to life's challenges to transcend their limitations.
(Date Reviewed: 09 December 2005)
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