In Her Shoes Review

In Her Shoes

Starring
Toni Collette, Cameron Diaz, Shirley MacLaine

Director
Curtis Hanson

Cert
12A

From Curtis Hanson, the director of Wonder Boys and LA Confidential, comes this touching film, which features impressive star turns from three very different actresses: Toni Collette, Cameron Diaz and Shirley MacLaine.

Based on a novel by Jennifer Weiner, it's about sisters Rose (Collette) and Maggie (Diaz), who are polar opposites. Rose is a brainy and successful lawyer with no self-esteem, who quells her frequent attacks of the blues by shopping for expensive shoes, while Maggie is an out-of-work party girl who makes up for her lack of education and ambition with an overactive sex life. When Maggie oversteps the mark one too many times, Rose kicks her out. Like writer Susannah Grant's previous film, Erin Brockovich, In Her Shoes breezes along and is packed with wry quips. It can be schmaltzy at moments, but it works. The actresses may have to deliver some cheesy lines, but they're so talented and Hanson's direction so subtle that it never seems overly corny. The film is hard to define - part rom com, part family drama and part soap opera, every element comes off and fuses together well to create a bittersweet weepie-come-laughter flick that'll appeal to women, but keep male viewers amused too.

Ultimately, this is about the family ties that bind us and three unhappy women attempting to find themselves. MacLaine's comeback is very welcome, Collette is superb in a role not that far off the Muriel's Wedding part that made her famous, while Diaz infuses her selfish, bi*chy character with a sweetness and vulnerability that keeps her sympathetic.

Edited by shahidlover24 - 18 years ago