September 24, 2005 | Maggie (Cameron Diaz) is hearty-partying hottie who never stays at any job, or with any man, for very long. She is such a stunner that she rarely has to buy her own drinks or pay her own way. And even though her only major talent is an ability to accessorize, she’s absolutely certain that somehow, some way, her wonderfulness will be recognized, and she’ll be a superstar. Or, at the very least, an MTV personality.
Rose (Toni Collette) is a drab drudge who toils indefatigably for a prestigious Philadelphia law firm. Despite her Princeton pedigree and professional accomplishments, she’s relentlessly self-critical, especially when she’s estimating her own sex appeal. (Her blunt judgment: “A thong would look ridiculous on me!”) She’s so flattered when a guy shows any interest that she can’t help snapping a photo of the fellow as he lies sleeping in her bed. Unfortunately, she hardly ever gets to use her camera.
So there you have it: One’s a hip-shaker, the other, a nose-grinder. Just about the only thing these two women have in common is the same pair of parents. Well, that and the same Size 8 ½ feet. But that’s not the only reason why In Her Shoes is such an appropriate title for the emotionally insightful and uncommonly entertaining movie about the disparate sisters.
Yes, you guessed it: This is, at heart, your standard-issue tale of attractive opposites, the kind of neatly contrived fable in which the workaholic ant and the feckless grasshopper become altogether better people while borrowing pages from each other’s playbook. But that’s OK, really, because director Curtis Hanson (L.A. Confidential) is shrewdly attuned to the possibilities of material that is more character-driven than plot-propelled. What makes In Her Shoes so consistently captivating, and compelling, is the not its final destination, but rather the vividly drawn details – the roadside attractions, the memorable detours and the complex traveling companions – of the journey.
And while some might be quick to dismiss it as a “chick flick” – after all, it’s based on a popular Jennifer Weiner novel that has been dismissed (mostly by people who haven’t read it) as “chick lit” – to do so requires a willful blindness to what the movie has to say about all sorts of sibling rivalries. (Rest assured, older brothers can grow just as resentful as Rose when it comes to cleaning up a brother’s – or sister’s – messes.) Working from a smartly seriocomic script by Susannah Grant (Erin Brockovich), Hanson has fashioned something wonderfully wise, seriously funny and deeply affecting. In short, he’s made one of the very best films of this year.
Right from the start, we immediate grasp that Maggie has spent most of her life going too far, too often. (In a scene at once richly comical and ineffably sad, she gets drunk at her 10th high school reunion, connects with a former classmate for quickie sex – then interrupts the tryst with an ill-timed upchuck.) It takes even less time to establish that Rose, resentful but dutiful, has always served as Maggie’s safety net of last resort. Chronically unemployed and virtually homeless, Maggie spends a lot of time sponging off her sister, sleeping on her couch and, of course, borrowing her shoes. But when Maggie impulsively borrows Rose’s new boyfriend – a fellow lawyer who just happens to be Rose’s boss – the freewheeling sister goes one step beyond too far. Rose kicks her sister out of her apartment, and out of her life.
The rest of In Her Shoes is a meticulously measured balancing act, as the movie moves back and forth between Florida, where Maggie forges a bond with Ella (Shirley MacLaine, restrained and sublime), her savvy and supportive grandmother; and Philadelphia, where Rose starts to bloom after she leaves her law firm, finds work as a dogwalker — and warily allows herself to fall in love with an attentive ex-colleague (Mark Feuerstein).
Before we finally get around to the inevitable reconciliation, the sisters must uncloset a few skeletons, acknowledge some painful truths – Maggie isn’t stupid, but her dyslexia sure makes her feel and seem that way – and learn a few lessons about remaining young at heart while observing the lively seniors in Ella’s retirement community.
Throughout it all, Diaz and Collette strike a delicate balance all their own. Backed by a strong supporting cast that includes Ken Howard as the melancholy father of the two sisters, Brooke Smith as Rose’s wisecracking buddy and Norman Lloyd as a retired professor who brings out the best in Maggie, Diaz and Collette give contrasting yet complementary performances that are impressively brave and thoroughly engaging — even when one character or the other is positively infuriating. Great teamwork, in a great movie.
