Picture Cameron Diaz drunk out of her mind, getting it on in a bathroom stall, and then stripping down to nothing but her bra and panties. This all happens in "In Her Shoes" — and you thought her latest was going to be a chick flick. Well, it is by all means a chick flick, but an exceedingly good one nonetheless. One that naysayers should not write off at first glance.
So why is Cameron unclothed so quickly? Besides being the reward for all the guys who begrudgingly brought their girlfriends to see the movie, Diaz plays Maggie Feller, a typical party girl on the verge of turning 30 who still refuses to act her age. Her responsible older sister, Rose, played by the incomparable Toni Collette, is right there to pick up the pieces every time Maggie makes a mess of things.
"In Her Shoes" has the makings of any other typical family dramedy. An adaptation of Jennifer Weiner's best seller of the same name, it is the story of two women who have nothing in common except for the bond of sisterhood. One is the beauty with no brains and the other is the plain-Jane successful lawyer who has no luck with men. A stereotypical set-up, yes, but if the audience can tolerate the first half-hour, they will be pleased with the eventual payoff.
Maggie's drunken shenanigans result in her getting kicked out of the house by her stepmother, leaving the partyer to take up residence on Big Sis's couch. Rose relentlessly tries to get her back on the straight and narrow, but all Maggie manages to accomplish is trashing the apartment and stealing her sister's Jimmy Choo shoes. After clashing left and right, a disastrous fallout occurs between the girls. Desperate and left with nowhere else to go, Maggie packs up her garbage bag and takes the next train to Florida. She heads to a retirement community where she intends to mooch off the grandmother neither of the girls knew while growing up.
Once the plot is set up, the movie really becomes worthwhile and proves itself as something that can be enjoyed by anyone, male or female. Curtis Hanson, the director of "L.A. Confidential," "8 Mile" and other quote-unquote guy films, manages to make "In Her Shoes" a chick flick that is not ridiculously girly. Instead, the film finds an ideal combination of sexiness, comedy and heart.
Playing the girl who struggles to overcome her own body image problems is a role that can easily be overacted. However, Collette is flawless. The actress gained 25 pounds to play the "fat" sister (a.k.a. not Cameron Diaz), because as everyone knows, being a "normal" person according to Hollywood means being overweight. Very reminiscent of Renée Zellweger in "Bridget Jones's Diary," Collette brilliantly portrays someone who bumbles through life awkward and unsure — character traits everyone can identify with. Being the skilled actress that she is, her face can convey an emotion in an instant, allowing the audience to know exactly what is going on. Heartfelt without pushing it, Collette makes Rose a character the audience roots for from the very start.
Diaz, on the other hand, comes off as extremely annoying, but that is to be expected. The audience wants to hate her, with her complete selfishness combined with legs that go on for days. Her excess showing of skin throughout the start of the film is absurd, but it supports the character Diaz embodies. Eventually, as hard as viewers try, it becomes impossible to not hope for her redemption.
Seeing Maggie change as a person, much in the same way she changes wardrobe, shows that Diaz can actually play a character with some depth. It is a nice change of pace from her rather dimwitted roles of the past.
It is truly these two leading ladies that make the film what it is. Well acted to no end, both actresses switch from humor to sincerity with ease. Watching both sisters overcome their individual limitations, the audience is eventually won over by the girls' charm.
That said, the supporting cast does not disappoint either. Veteran actress Shirley MacLaine is sensational as the estranged grandmother trying to reconnect with the family that has been absent from her life. Mark Feuerstein plays your standard-issue love interest to a tee. Plus, viewers cannot help but enjoy all the endearing elderly characters that inhabit the retirement community. Francine Beers is especially scene stealing as the quick-witted Mrs. Lefkowitz.
The characters and their circumstances are universal, the best jokes are not given away in the previews and they even manage to maintain shoes as a clever theme without making it overkill. As far as chick flicks go, "In Her Shoes" definitely supersedes expectations.
Grade: A
