= 4 stars

Starring Toni Collette, Cameron Diaz, Shirley MacLaine
Directed by Curtis Hanson

Amazon Link

It took me a while to get into In Her Shoes because I assumed it was a romantic comedy. Its humor is on the dejected side, but as a drama / chick flick it sports a confident stride.

Bookish workaholic Rose Feller (Toni Collette), unlucky in love and feeling frumpy, has a sexy yet irresponsible sister, Maggie (Cameron Diaz) who moves in with Rose only to screw up everything (including literally, the boyfriend). Booted from Rose’s apartment, Maggie moves in with her disenfranchised grandmother Ella (Shirley MacLaine) now living in a retirement community.

In Her Shoes contains a solid core of performances: the reliable Collette is solid as the more responsible, emotionally troubled sister (without her sincere performance, the whole film would fail). Diaz shows how sexy plus stupid isn’t always attractive, and her character undergoes a slow shift through recklessness, guilt, and finally reconciliation.

A lesser film might have gotten stuck on Maggie’s makeover of Rose, but this film goes beyond, getting to the deeper issues of siblings that drive us nuts but we still find a way to love them and foster a relationship regardless. I also found Simon’s (Mark Feurstein) struggle to understand Rose’s emotional turmoil before their marriage heartfelt and true to life. Not all the answers are found, but a life’s purpose can be found in simplest of places: a favorite Jamaican restaurant, reading a poem to a former professor, or reliving childhood memories around a photo album.

In Her Shoes is a chick flick with brains, that doesn’t simply consider a beauty makeover as the answer to all of life’s problems. Relationships are more complicated than that, especially when it comes to family. Consider this flick if you want the chick stuff without the flaky cliches.

IMDB: In Her Shoes
Wikipedia: In Her Shoes
Rotten Tomatoes: In Her Shoes 75%

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