Review of In Her Shoes (2005) by Markb. — 14 Oct 2005

What IS it about women and shoes, anyway? One of the many reasons I'm eternally grateful for my gender is that no male-dominated profession (with the obvious exception of female impersonators) requires that its practitioners get through each and every work day trying to balance themselves on wobbly, tight, pinchy high-heels.

So unlike Maggie (Cameron Diaz), I have no problem with her sister Rose (Toni Collette) purchasing dozens of those pretty little torture devices and then just leaving them in her closet to gaze at admiringly; that's about as practical a use for them as it gets.

I suspect that In Her Shoes (the movie) will have about as much appeal for many male moviegoers as wearing a pair of lipstick red pumps to the construction site (and I highly suspect that the controversial poster image of Diaz in sexy attire--but no Collette--is a deliberate marketing calculation to prevent husbands and boyfriends from gripping banisters and doorknobs quite as tightly when their significant others drag them off to this)--but most viewers of either gender who are up for an intelligent, insightful and entertaining comedy-drama should have nothing whatsoever to worry about.

It's curious but true that some of the best so-called "women's pictures" of all time were made by male directors with otherwise testosterone-laden resumes: Raoul Walsh with The Man I Love, Martin Scorsese with Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, and of course James (The Terminator) Cameron with a little historical romance about a big boat that made an even bigger splash.

Curtis Hanson (who made such memorable macho fare as L. A. Confidential and Eminem's 8 Mile, and even tried to turn Meryl Streep into an action hero in The River Wild) joins them; he directs this adaptation of Jennifer Weiner's book about sisterly forgiveness and acceptance with empathy and taste, getting the most out of the material without milking it to death (and when part of said material involves lovably horny old codgers in a Florida retirement community, restraint is no small achievement!) Maggie introduces us to herself bringing a drunken restroom-stall sexual encounter to an abrupt close by throwing up all over herself (and trust me, that's not the worst act she commits in the course of this movie!) ; her conservative, comparatively uptight sister Rose is so insecure about men that she actually photographs the handsome one she spent the night with to prove she actually did.

It doesn't take Fellini or Freud to figure out that the sisters' identical shoe size represents their equal need for self esteem; as they learn to love themselves, they can begin to love other people, including--finally and most importantly--each other.

Collette (Muriel's Wedding, The Sixth Sense) is, as always, so intelligent, witty and appealing that anyone who DOESN'T find her enormously attractive had to have had their taste removed along with their tonsils in early childhood; Shirley MacLaine is, not surprisingly, the perfect blend of compassion and practicality as a long lost relative and the fulcrum for many of the sisters' changes, and Diaz, as a slutty, seemingly amoral screw-up, proves again that there's far more to her than meets the eye.

She's always been at her best when working AGAINST her natural beauty (Being John Malkovich of course immediately comes to mind, but so does her endearingly terrible karaoke singing in My Best Friend's Wedding, which of course made her fiance and the audience love her even more); despite her "postage-stamp-sized" attire through much of this film, Diaz courageously makes Maggie as physically unattractive as possible throughout; she doesn't really allow the character to become truly pretty until she makes a life-changing discovery more than midway through.

In Her Shoes may not quite match such all-time greats of its genre as Dark Victory, Imitation of Life or Terms of Endearment, but it comes darn close; it's interesting to note that the term "chick flick" officially entered the dictionary last week at almost the precise time that such a good example of one hit theaters.