In Her Shoes

Enjoyable but slightly flawed, In Her Shoes is definitely deeper than a chick-flick in the handling of the characters. Toni Collette is excellent as usual, as well as Shirley MacLaine, yet I couldn't help thinking while watching that I should read the book it was based on and get a deeper look at these people and their lives. I felt the film could have gone into more detail and I expected it to be longer, as so many plot developments felt somewhat simplified to fit them all in to a 2-hour running time. That's my biggest criticism of the film, but it was enjoyable in general and I had a wonderful time watching. A few other things I enjoyed: the Rocky reference (my favorite), and the opening sequence during the credits. I have to credit this last one to both screenwriter and director for this incredible opening, which in completely visual terms sets up the film's themes. The titles are presented in cuts between the two sisters, highlighting both their conflict and their connection to one another. Generally, it has a nice balance between dead-seriousness and light drama, but I wish there was more of it to comment on.

Cameron Diaz amazes in this delightful little film. ALERT! For all men! "In Her Shoes" is the perfect movie to see with all the important women in your life: Wife or girlfriend(s), daughters, sisters, mother, mother- n-law, aunts, cousins, friends and grandmothers! You've got my 100% guarantee that all of them will love it! So you can please them all and treat yourself to some eye candy, too, because scenes abound with Cameron Diaz romping around in a scant bikini in this rather amusing and interesting story which interweaves a patchwork of unusual family ties.

Diaz plays Maggie, the very attractive inveterate party-girl. Rose (Toni Collette), the successful workaholic lawyer, plays counterpoint to her sister, Maggie. When an industrial size faux pas, committed by Maggie, drives a Grand Canyon size wedge between these polar opposite siblings, Maggie tempestuously decides to cut ties with Rose and relocate to Miami in order to seek out her estranged grandmother (Shirley Maclaine) whom she has not seen since she was a little girl. The sisters take advantage of this forced hiatus in their relationship to achieve personal growth and self-improvement.

😊😊Fate, as it so often does in real life, plays an important role both in the development of the story and in the lives of its characters.

The nuanced on-screen chemistry between the three leading characters is exquisite! "SHOES" shows some rather original and interesting elements. Observing the artistic growth of Cameron Diaz over the years, I now consider her an exceptional actor. Here, Diaz fleshes out her character; converting each action and reaction into world-class natural! In one close-up, her face fills the entire screen,at a moment when Maggie is feeling extremely tired and stressed. She clearly projects a frail, aging fatigue at the precise real-time twilight of her youth! Not many Divas would lend themselves to such a scenario to improve a scene!

8.5*....... ENJOY! / DISFRUTELA!!!

Any comments, questions or observations, in English o en Español, are most welcome!

In Her Shoes (2005) is a film about two sisters who are vastly different. Cameron Diaz and Toni Collette play these sisters. Cameron Diaz is a woman who very much depends on her looks in life. She is a partier type who doesn't really take responsibility for much of anything, she ends up staying with Collette's character when she is out of a job. Eventually, Collette gets tired of her mooching and something leads to her kicking her out. After she does this, Diaz discovers these old cards that were sent by her grandmother (Shirley MacLaine). She decides to go see her, her father had kept her and her sister from her when they were growing up. The film then becomes this touching drama about family reuniting and learning about one another. All the performances here were great. Diaz, MacLaine, and Collette all do a great job with their roles. They all had this great entertaining chemistry too, made it that much better to watch. The story is interesting and the writing is well done. This film does it all right if you ask me. It's not one of my all time favorites, but i did enjoy it very much. 8/10 for In Her Shoes.

Don't be too harsh on this film. A chick-flick? Perhaps, but lots more than that! This film is about women relationships with just the right touch of comic relief many of these films normally lack. Hats of for everyone who contributed to this film! A good script, great acting and stellar craftsmanship of director Curtis Hanson make this one hit the bulls-eye, or very close indeed. I expected a decent comedy, which - in part - it certainly is, but the performances are so good and the characters so alive and breathing that I soon forgot about the initial comic aspect of the film. Right from the start, the film sucks you into the story, which just ring true.

Two sisters with quite opposite characters, sexy, uneducated party animal Maggie (Cameron Diaz) and the somewhat dull responsible lawyer Rose (Toni Collette), are unwillingly confronted with each other. They learn that they can actually learn something from their deficiencies and combine the strands they have - with help from their grandmother - to improve their lives.

Curtis Hanson expertly directs in an appropriately modest fashion He knows his job and manages to focus on character development but doesn't forget to add the occasional comic relief. The cast shines with Cameron Diaz in what might be her best role so far. The still vastly underrated Australian Toni Collette, who shined as the vulnerable ugly duckling in MURIEL'S WEDDING (1994), is just perfect in her role a Rose, and there's Shirley Maclaine as the sister's grandmother with a somewhat low-key part, but she knows how to handle it, expertly. A treat!

Perhaps some minor flaws: The story takes some time to get going. A bit too much focus on Cameron Diaz's legs, which is completely unnecessary and Maggie's partial illiteracy and incapability to get a job might have needed somewhat more background or explanation. What beautiful woman, no matter how stupid she might be, could have any difficulty finding a job? Highly unlikely. But these are minor quibbles.

Worth your time, even if you are one of three guys in a crowd of three hundred women in the cinema;)

Camera Obscura --- 9/10

It's not the best romantic comedy in the market but this movie always makes me cry. I have a sister too and even though our relationship is nothing like in the film I understand their love for each other.