Watching In Her Shoes was a complete surprise for me. I expected a romantic comedy and what I have seen was a good romantic film. It wasn’t a classical predictable romantic film rather a full of twists film that started as a romantic comedy and ended like a drama.
This film was base on Jennifer Weiner’s novel In Her Shoes. I haven’t read the book before watching the movie. The screenplay was written by Suzannah Grant. She wrote the screenplay of Erin Brockovich and was nominated for Oscar for it in 2001. Curtis Hanson directed the film. His most famous films are The Hand that Rocks the Cradle, L.A. Confidential and 8 Mile. In Her Shoes has a classification of 12 years and over. The original language is English. The running time is 125 minutes. This film was produced in 2005.
The plot ---------- This film is about two sisters whom are as different as possible. Maggie (Cameron Diaz) is beautiful, irresponsible, has no job and uses her relatives – especially her elder sister – according to her own interest. She is dyslexic and has difficulties with numbers too so she gets fired of the jobs quite frequently.
Rose Feller (Toni
Collette) is not so beautiful like her younger sister. She is a workaholic lawyer who can hardly enter a relationship. She is overweight and her only joy is eating Haagen-Dazs and having expensive and beautiful shoes in her closet.
Maggie gets drunk at a party and her actual partner calls Rose to pick her up. Rose finally found a guy she has spent the night with. She was just taking a photo of him for her friend Amy (Brooke Smith) to believe that there is a man in her life when the telephone rang. She had to go to pick up her drunken sister again. She drove her to their parents’ house but their stepmother didn’t let her in. So Rose took her to her own flat.
Maggie didn’t care what her sister asked and caused loads of trouble to her. She even seduced Rose’s new boyfriend. When Rose throws Maggie out she has no place to go. She gets some money from Rose’s boyfriend and buys a ticket to Florida. She found in her father’s drawer some birthday cards her grandmother, Ella (Shirley Maclaine) sent. Ella lives in Florida, her husband died a few years ago in cancer.
Maggie visits her grandmother but behaves very rude with her. Ella gets her a job in the retirement home. And this is the end of my story. I don’t want to spoil the nice end of the film. I recommend you watching it.
Main casts: -------------- Cameron Diaz – Maggie Feller Toni Collette – Rose Feller Shirley Maclaine – Ella Hirsch (Maggie’s and Rose’s grandmother) Mark Feuerstein – Simon Stain Brook Smith – Amy (Rose’s best friend) Francine Beers – Mrs. Lefkowitz Richard Burgi – Jim Danvers (Rose’s firs boyfriend who was seduced by Maggie) Ken Howard – Michael Feller (Maggie’s and Rose’s father) Jackie Geary – My Marcia (Sydelle’s daughter) Candice Azzara – Sydelle Feller (Maggie’s and Rose’s stepmother) Norman Lloyd – The Professor (he introduces Maggie into the world of poems)
My opinion --------------- What I liked most in this film were the twists. You can’t guess the end of the film. I loved the slow change of characters. Maggie started as an easygoing, unreliable girl who was partying a lot and had several one night stands. By the end of the film she learns to respect others. Rose gives up her hardworking job and works as a dog-walker. This way she can loose weight and can get back her self confidence. She recovers from her first heartbreak and is open to a new relationship. Ella meets the events of the past and forgives for herself and starts to take care of her grandchildren whatever grownup they are already. They learn to be in each other’s shoe…
Cameron Diaz was a real surprise for me. I saw her in several films and in my opinion her performance in this film was outstanding. My favourite scenes were when she read the poem to the retired blind professor and when she surprised her sister with the I Carry Your Heart With Me poem of E. E. Cumming. The way she read it… I still hear her voice in my head.
Shirley Maclaine was simply brilliant. She was a perfect match for the role of Ella. I loved how she acted. I think she is one of the most talented actresses. My favourite scenes were when she forgave to Michael and when she bought a TV and prepared Cosmopolitan Cocktail to her friends and Maggie.
Rose started as a boring lawyer then as she faced trouble after trouble Maggie caused to her I could easily identified with her. Well she wasn’t as beautiful as her sister and she had to face this day by day but she was clever, she was the elder one and as their mother died she had to take care of her sister. She went through a lot of changes and Toni Collette could make me believe that she has changed. She was brilliant too.
I won’t go through all the characters but I would like to highlight one of my favourites, the Professor. I think he has done a great job in the transformation of Maggie. He believed in her and he was the first one in Maggie’s life. He made her read out poems although she was dyslexic. The Professor had a very nice character and Norman Lloyd acted it brilliantly. Although it was a little role, I liked it very much and made me cry.
Although it started like a light film it turned into a drama. I could have imagined other ending for the film but this one was good too. It made me stick to the screen and I really enjoyed it. I think this film is rather for women than men, but Cameron Diaz fans will love it.
I recommend watching it I think I will watch it again sometime.
Pictures of In Her Shoes (DVD)
The poster
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