In Her Shoes
When someone thinks of Curtis Hanson, they think "L.A. Confidential" and "8 Mile" - not chick flick. And while it may be hard to think of Hanson directing a movie like In Her Shoes, once you see the movie, you see just how easy it can be.
Australian actress Toni Collette ("The Sixth Sense," "Velvet Goldmine") and America's sweetheart Cameron Diaz ("Charlie's Angels," "Vanilla Sky") star as Rose and Maggie Feller, sisters, who, despite their differences, really love each other. Rose is a career-driven lawyer, and Maggie is a fun-loving woman who is beginning to confront the concept of aging. The story starts, to the tune of Garbage's "Stupid Girl," with both characters doing voice-overs as they go into sexual encounters. Rose's starts with her boss (Richard Burgi) and winds up at her apartment; Maggie's takes place in the bathroom at her 10-year high school reunion. Maggie winds up tossing her cookies, and the guy she's with calls her sister to pick her up. After a confrontation with their stepmother (Candice Azzara), Maggie is thrown out of the house and Rose is forced to take Maggie home with her. Rose pushes Maggie to get a job, but instead she goes to New York for an MTV audition. The audition goes awry when we discover that Maggie doesn't read very well.
Eventually, Maggie finds a job at a dog salon. After work one day, she discovers that her sister's car has been towed. Two guys come up to her and ask her if she wants a ride to the tow lot. She agrees, and after a few drinks, they arrive at the lot, where one of the guys tries to take advantage of her.
When Rose gets home from a business trip the next day, she is infuriated to find a boot on her car and Maggie lying in her bed with a dog stolen from the salon. Rose insists that Maggie be gone by the time she gets back from work. While Rose is at work, her boss shows up at the apartment and asks Maggie if Rose is there. Of course, she isn't, but Maggie winds up seducing the boss, and Rose arrives back home just in time to see it. The two of them get into a horrible fight, and the boss drops Maggie off at the train station, where she decides to go to Florida to live with her long-lost grandmother (Shirley MacLaine). After Maggie leaves, Rose quits her job and starts her own dog-walking business while falling in love with another lawyer from her old job (Mark Feuerstein).
Collette is fantastic as the emotional yet practical Rose and gives the best performance of her career. The same can be said for Diaz, whose turns in lighter fare like "Charlie's Angels" along with the occasional darker role ("Vanilla Sky") have not shown her capacity. MacLaine was great as always, making you forget her somewhat-kooky off-screen persona. These three performances and all of the supporting characters add-up to make a wonderfully realistic take on the weepy chick flick genre.
"In Her Shoes" has a darker, smarter tone than the standard chick flick, courtesy of director Hanson. More chick flicks should add up like this, taking less of the formulaic plot line recycled over-and-over in Hollywood today.
Australian actress Toni Collette ("The Sixth Sense," "Velvet Goldmine") and America's sweetheart Cameron Diaz ("Charlie's Angels," "Vanilla Sky") star as Rose and Maggie Feller, sisters, who, despite their differences, really love each other. Rose is a career-driven lawyer, and Maggie is a fun-loving woman who is beginning to confront the concept of aging. The story starts, to the tune of Garbage's "Stupid Girl," with both characters doing voice-overs as they go into sexual encounters. Rose's starts with her boss (Richard Burgi) and winds up at her apartment; Maggie's takes place in the bathroom at her 10-year high school reunion. Maggie winds up tossing her cookies, and the guy she's with calls her sister to pick her up. After a confrontation with their stepmother (Candice Azzara), Maggie is thrown out of the house and Rose is forced to take Maggie home with her. Rose pushes Maggie to get a job, but instead she goes to New York for an MTV audition. The audition goes awry when we discover that Maggie doesn't read very well.
Eventually, Maggie finds a job at a dog salon. After work one day, she discovers that her sister's car has been towed. Two guys come up to her and ask her if she wants a ride to the tow lot. She agrees, and after a few drinks, they arrive at the lot, where one of the guys tries to take advantage of her.
When Rose gets home from a business trip the next day, she is infuriated to find a boot on her car and Maggie lying in her bed with a dog stolen from the salon. Rose insists that Maggie be gone by the time she gets back from work. While Rose is at work, her boss shows up at the apartment and asks Maggie if Rose is there. Of course, she isn't, but Maggie winds up seducing the boss, and Rose arrives back home just in time to see it. The two of them get into a horrible fight, and the boss drops Maggie off at the train station, where she decides to go to Florida to live with her long-lost grandmother (Shirley MacLaine). After Maggie leaves, Rose quits her job and starts her own dog-walking business while falling in love with another lawyer from her old job (Mark Feuerstein).
Collette is fantastic as the emotional yet practical Rose and gives the best performance of her career. The same can be said for Diaz, whose turns in lighter fare like "Charlie's Angels" along with the occasional darker role ("Vanilla Sky") have not shown her capacity. MacLaine was great as always, making you forget her somewhat-kooky off-screen persona. These three performances and all of the supporting characters add-up to make a wonderfully realistic take on the weepy chick flick genre.
"In Her Shoes" has a darker, smarter tone than the standard chick flick, courtesy of director Hanson. More chick flicks should add up like this, taking less of the formulaic plot line recycled over-and-over in Hollywood today.
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