In Her Shoes

Plot synopsis:
Maggie (Cameron Diaz) and Rose Feller (Toni Collette) are sisters with nothing in common but their shoe size. They were raised by their father Michael (Ken Howard) and stepmother (Candice Azzara) after their mother Caroline died in a car accident. Rose is the eldest; an ostensibly plain and serious lawyer who is protective of Maggie despite her flaws. Maggie is a free spirit who is unable to hold a steady job (due to her virtual inability to read) and turns to alcohol and men for emotional and financial support. Rose grudgingly allows Maggie to move in with her in her Rittenhouse Square apartment in Philadelphia when their stepmother throws her out of the house. Their already difficult relationship ends when Rose catches Maggie in bed with Jim (Richard Burgi), her boyfriend. Maggie subsequently disappears from Rose's life.
A few days before, while secretly looking through her father's desk for money, Maggie discovered a bundle of old greeting cards containing cash. She was astonished to discover that the cards were addressed to both her and Rose and were from their grandmother Ella (Shirley MacLaine). Now, homeless and without job prospects, Maggie travels to Florida to find her and hopefully a new source of income.
When Ella first hears from Maggie, she invites her to stay in her home, She admits to her close friend Ethel how Caroline was bipolar, and sent her a note several days before her death to look after her girls. So she letting Maggie stay with her partially out of guilt for abandoning her responsibilities as a grandmother. However, as time passes, Ella discovers that Maggie has come to do nothing but sunbathe and take money from her. Maggie asks Ella to finance an acting career for her; Ella agrees to match her salary dollar for dollar if she accepts a job with the assisted living section of her grandmother's retirement community. Meanwhile, Rose has decided to quit her job, become a dog-walker, and date Simon Stein (Mark Feuerstein) whom she had previously ignored. They become engaged.
Maggie befriends one of her patients, a blind retired professor of English literature (Norman Lloyd), who has asked Maggie to read works of poetry to him. She does so, but with great difficulty. After asking if she is dyslexic, the professor encourages Maggie to continue reading to him while offering emotional support to her. Maggie finds a friend in the professor, the first person in her life who does not ridicule her difficulties with reading (and actually helps her to improve in this area). As time passes with the professor, Maggie's confidence grows not only with reading but with her general image of herself. In addition, she also becomes friendly with the residents of the retirement community. In doing so, Maggie discovers a livelihood that is greatly needed among the elderly women: a personal clothing shopper, an activity for which Maggie shows enormous talent. Ella (who also does not ridicule her difficulties with math) offers to run the financial aspects of the business. In the process, they become close and resolve their history.
Meanwhile, Rose's reluctance to talk about Maggie is straining her relationships with those around her, such as Simon, her father, and stepmother. While Michael remains oblivious to his daughters' falling out and the stepmother does not care much of the sisters, Simon tries to get Rose to talk about Maggie. When he sees Rose and former boyfriend Jim converse about how Rose cannot talk about Maggie to anyone, Simon's patience has grown thin and effectively dumps Rose after she keeps protecting Maggie by staying silent.
Ella has also secretly contacted Rose and sends a plane ticket asking her to come for a visit. Rose is excited to hear from her long-lost grandmother, but her pleasure quickly sours when she arrives and discovers that her sister already lives there. After a long conversation with Ella, Rose reveals that after Caroline took Rose and Maggie on a spontaneous trip to New York (without Michael's knowledge), Michael and Caroline got into a huge argument, with Michael threatening to put her in a mental institution. Caroline killed herself 2 days later and sent a note to Ella, pleading with her to take care of her daughters. Maggie does not remember this as Rose shielded her from the events to protect her.
Ella never recovered from Caroline's death and never resolved her feelings towards Michael; for she felt he ignored the signs that his wife had problems. The three women bond and learn to resolve their complicated past. Meanwhile, Maggie has contacted Simon telling that Rose is in Florida and "in trouble" and arranges him to meet Rose at the elderly residents' party. The two rekindle their engagement after Rose finally opens up about Maggie's personality and Rose's desire to protect her fearing that Simon will come to hate Maggie.
Maggie decides to throw Rose's wedding, preparing the Jamaican/reggae theme in order to show Rose how much she loves her. At Rose's wedding, Ella also reconciles with Michael and Maggie reads a poem to Rose as a wedding gift.

Tags: dramatic, romantic, flashback

Review:
Personally, my favorite of his films is "Wonder Boys" and in a way "In Her Shoes" is closer to that one, without being as good, than any of his other movies.
The only thing these sisters have in common is the passion for the fancy shoes Rose loves to buy and Maggie, a penniless girl can't afford.Curtis Hanson directed this film in which the main characters are women.
Adapted from the Jennifer Weiner novel of the same title, the movie version was adapted by Susannah Grant.The main reason for watching this uneven film is Toni Collette, who as Rose, gives one of her most detailed performances in recent memory.
Ms. Collette is perfect as the mousy Rose, who secretly would like to be like her sister, but can't bring herself to do it.Cameron Diaz goes into a transformation in the film.
It is not until she gets to meet her unknown grandmother that she begins to put her life to good use and in the process discovers what's wrong with her.Shirley MacLaine is seen in one of the most sedate characters of her screen career as the grandmother Ella.
"In Her Shoes" is noteworthy for its crisp dialogue, lively repartee, and multi-dimensional characters, For her novel and for her screenplay, Jennifer Weiner and Susannah Grant, respectively, both deserve an extra curtain call for exemplary work.Because of the careful scripting, all three of the leading characters played by Toni Collette, Cameron Diaz, and Shirley MacLaine were strong roles with no single character dominating the script.
The two sisters, Rose and Maggie, shared the focus in the first half of the film, and MacLaine's grandmother Ella provided a strong impetus in the latter portion.While all three performances were superb, the trickiest role was Maggie the tomcat.
The result is an enjoyably entertaining comedy/drama featuring a number of topflight performances and some hilarious dialogue.Maggie Feller (Cameron Diaz) is an irresponsible, practically illiterate alcoholic who sleeps around and mooches or steals to get by in the world.
Toni Collette has always been a solid actress in any film (Sixth Sense, The Hours) but she has found a wonderful character in Rose and makes the most of it.
It's nice to see an old pro like Norman Lloyd still displaying his acting chops in what is a minor role of a bed-ridden patient who has a profound influence on Diaz's character.The performances are complemented by seamless editing which not only captures the right reactions, but effortlessly switches back and forth between the two sisters especially during key scenes that are thematically linked.
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.
Toni Collette bears the brunt of having to carry the film because her character is central to the story, and she does a great job.
As a guy I hope all this "chick flick" talk does not deter serious film goers who want to have a rally good time at the movies.
This is honestly a well constructed story that flows off the screen with excellent performances by Cameron Diaz, Tony Collette and the fabulous Shirley MacLaine.
With Ella, Maggie changes, becoming another woman and improving the relationships in her family."In Her Shoes" is a feel-good comedy with an excellent lead trio of actresses.
Granted, Cameron Diaz's long legs might have had something to do with enhancing my enjoyment, but I was entertained nonetheless.Things start off a little slow as the relationship between the sisters is allowed to grow, but once Maggie finds herself in Florida, working at an old folks' home, the story and laughs start to pick up.
"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- in-law, aunts, cousins, friends and grandmothers!
The movie tells us a story about 2 sisters, Maggie (Diaz) and Rose (Toni Collette).
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.
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.
How the sisters struggle with each other and their ability to maintain meaningful relationships is, of course, the meat of the story and delightfully involves their no-nonsense grandmother (Shirley MacLaine) trying to define herself in that role.Yes, in the modern vernacular, In Her Shoes is most certainly a "chick flick".
This is a great screenplay from a fine book, directed flawlessly by Curtis Hanson (whose previous films have little resemblance to anything chick flick-like).It also stars three actresses at the top of their form.
Cameron Diaz does her best work by far, and Toni Collette surpasses her Oscar-nominated performance in "The Sixth Sense." Then there is Shirley MacLaine, who puts on an acting clinic--a perfectly calibrated performance by a truly remarkable talent.Ridley and Tony Scott, who co-produced and executive produced this film (and who also produce the TV show "Numbers"), are clearly tuned into the joys and difficulties of being siblings.
Shirley MacLaine plays the girls' estranged grandmother, and she gives a surprisingly warm and feminine performance.My problem with the movie is the message of the story.
Watching it, I felt touched, happy, sad and thrilled all at the same time.Having read the book, I was really happy that the movie was still about all three women, Rose, Maggie and Ella.
Toni Collette was excellent as Rose, played almost subtly against Cameron Diaz's more outgoing Maggie.
It was good that the movie wasn't like the trailers, focusing exclusively on Maggie/Cameron Diaz.
Shirley MacLaine did an outstanding job as Ella, the lost grandmother, Mark Feuerstein was surprisingly adorable as Simon.Definitely a great date movie, but also good for a night out with family and friends.
The best movie I've seen in this year!For quite a long time, watching film is no longer a pure pleasure, it is always either for class or for project needs, like my own obsession with Wong Kai Wei's style of abstract cinema.
The movie is delightful mainly is because of the excellent performance, unlike many big featured Hollywood film, this movie does not focus on the struggling and growing of one central character, i.e. Maggie/Diaz, but the plot evolves around sisterhood/family issues, the idea of re-searching/finding new meanings to cookie-cutter lifestyles.
With the more subtle acting, Toni Collette who plays Rose as Maggie's older/stubborn/successful sister stands out more than Diaz's outgoing attention grabber.
Poor Shirley MacLaine tries hard to lend some gravitas to this mawkish, gag-inducing "feel-good" movie, but she's trampled by the run-away sentimentality of a film that's not the least bit grounded in reality.This was directed by Curtis Hanson?
This is the kind of movie that doesn't want to accept that life is messy and fussy, and that neat, tidy endings (however implausible they might be) might make for a nice closing shot, but come across as utterly phony if the people watching the film have been through anything remotely like what the characters in the film go through.My wife and I made a game of calling out the plot points before they occurred -- e.g.
For all the PR that ruined this film in the theaters (the Magnum Opus 'chick flick', about shoes, silly graphics, etc), this is in truth a fine drama about sibling rivalry and sibling devotion and the cruel effects self-loathing bifurcated parents unwittingly have on their offspring.Rose Feller (Toni Collette) is a bright but dumpy lawyer, successful in her career but miserable in her social life.
It's a talking (meaning nothing blows up or gets shot up) movie dealing with the issues in a family of women, so I was impressed that the men who were in the theater left at the end also seemingly having enjoyed the film.
They both add a little titillation with Cameron Diaz in black underwear and a partial back shot of Gwyneth Paltrow naked.Both films seem contrived, as if the writers of the works the films are based on did market research and said, "Ok, there's a market for stories about relationships between women, so I'm going to write about two sisters with an offensive stepmother" In other words, instead of the drama emerging from the truth of the relationship, the relationship is invented to fit the dramatic situation.
This movie is about family relationships but especially that of two sisters, Maggie and Rose, who grew up together under difficult circumstances.
It sketches Maggie and Rose in broad strokes, but thankfully the nuanced performances of Diaz and Collette develop satisfyingly complex characters as the film progresses.Maggie leeches off of her loved ones, while, conversely, Rose's practise of helping her sister has grown blunt and forceful with years of disappointment.
Rose learns to relinquish responsibility in work and in romance, while Maggie learns to cope with it at the Florida retirement community of the sisters' estranged grandmother (a splendid Shirley Maclaine).Under the direction of Curtis Hanson, the film matures with its protagonists.
Acting of Tony Collette and Shirley McLane is unexpectedly good (while Cameron Diaz is just correct), which makes the movie more interesting.
I suppose acting opposite Shirley MacLaine means you have to pull more out of the bag.Talking of Ms MacLaine it's amazes me that with one look she can demonstrate such feeling, there were times when I felt myself welling up, soppy I know.The rest of the supporting cast were also excellent, especially the old ladies, and Mark Feurstein who you knew Rose had to get together with.It is a predictable film and because of that some would call it light and dismiss it but it's the quality of acting that takes it beyond such criticism..
Hanson commendably resists the usual chick flick tendency to string together pop tracks until over halfway through, and here the Jamaican songs thematically refer to a key scene and are even mostly by the original performers (though I was surprised that he didn't use a cover of Jimmy Cliff's "Sitting Here In Limbo" that would have changed the gender.)The other pop culture in jokes are amusing - the gathering around the TV to watch the also Jimmy Choo shoe-obsessed "Sex and the City" (which Feuerstein guested on); Diaz's character not being able to read a line about Eminem, of Hanson's "8 Mile"; and Colette's character setting a "Rocky"-like goal of running up the steps of the Philadelphia Museum.
Finally (for reason I guess I won't give away even though they're not exactly crucial to the overall plot), Rose kicks Maggie out and Maggie moves to Florida in search of a grandmother neither sister knew they had."In Her Shoes" is riddled with as many clichés as the pages of Jennifer Weiner's chick-lit phenom, on which the film was based.
However, the movie doesn't feel like a chick-flick - indeed, there are times when it could be compared to dramadies such as "Something's Gotta Give" and "As Good As It Gets." This is not to say "In Her Shoes" is worthy of the accolades and awards the aforementioned films garnered.
The way she stands, the faces she makes, her reactions to her sister - they're gems of cinematic acting you don't come across often.Enter Oscar winner Shirley Maclaine ("Sweet Charity," "Terms of Endearment") in the role of Ella Hirsch, the girls long-lost grandmother.
Cameron Diaz does a wonderful job along with Toni Collette and Shirley MacLaine.
Directed by Curtis Hanson, with a great script by Susannah Grant, "In Her Shoes" is the story of two sisters, a family secret, and an estranged grandmother.
It stars Cameron Diaz, Toni Collette, Shirley MacLaine, Ken Howard, Richard Burgi, Mark Feuerstein, Norman Lloyd, Francine Beers, and Jerry Adler.The Feller sisters, Maggie and Rose, couldn't be more different.
Then she finds dozens of cards from a grandmother (MacLaine) she never knew in Florida and decides to go there instead.This is a beautiful story of reconnection and learning who you are through different kinds of love - sisterly, grandmotherly, man-woman, as each sister takes a road that will lead her back to the another."In Her Shoes" is perfectly cast, from Diaz's flirtatious, vagabond Maggie, MacLaine's strong but heartbroken Ella, to Toni Collette's lonely, insecure Rose and a magnificent supporting cast, each of whom makes a lasting impression.An unforgettable, unapologetically sentimental story that'll have you reaching for Kleenex - the whole box..
On scraping cash together homeless and helpless Maggie (Diaz) looks to start a new life away from her controlling sister (Collette) Romantic comedies/dramas are frequently used to market a concept of idealistic love in the face of adversity.
I was greatly surprised with this film, As it reads on the movie when you buy it its a rocky road that two sisters make to find peace for themselves and with each other.Maggie, a rather airhead at first who thinks of sex to to get things, and lands up not being a nice person, has a chance to make it better when she finds her long lost grandma who helps her to become a better person.
At the beginning I didn't expect it was a drama as I really thought it was a comedy, but to be honest I didn't care because the plot really got me involved and I liked it anyway.I think this movie has a powerful message and even having some Hollywood clichéd scenes, like the wedding at the end, it's really a good film; with a bit of drama but also tenderness and fun (yes, it has a few intelligent jokes.
I also enjoyed very much the two sisters' characters: MAGGIE (Played by Cameron Diaz) and ROSE (Toni Collette), but I got shocked when I realized that Cameron Diaz couldn't read a poem!
Joking!:) I appreciate so much this actress, and one more time I loved her performance.This film really surprised me, because I was expecting just one of those average Hollywood romantic comedies or something, but instead I got a good drama, with a very nice plot.
I was expecting this to be just another 'chick' movie without much substance but the presence of the ever brilliant Toni Collette convinced me to see it and I was pleasantly surprised - a good plot and enjoyable performances all around with high believe-ability that Maggie and Rose are sisters.
In Curtis Hanson's "In Her Shoes," it does both.Toni Collette plays Rose, the responsible sister.
In search of a meal ticket, Maggie reconnects with their grandmother, played by Shirley MacLaine, and family relationships unfold and implode in the process.The believable characters and superb writing elevate "In Her Shoes" from the crowded field of women's relationship movies starring the likes of Julia Roberts and Meg Ryan.
Rose played by Toni Collette and Maggie played by Cameron Diaz, fall out but they can't ever stay mad at each other, and Maggie does things that younger sisters do...although at the same time she does cross the line rather too far not just on one occasion, but on a few.
A tale of two sisters, endearing to each other's heart - marvelous character-driven performances by Toni Collette and Cameron Diaz as the siblings.
Cameron Diaz gives the best performance of her career as Maggie and Toni Collette is solid, as always, as Rose.
Okay Ladies  it is time to gather up all the important women in your life, leave the boys at home and head to the movie theater for In Her Shoes staring Cameron Diaz, Toni Collette and Shirley MacClaine.This comedy/drama begins with Rose (Collette) having to pick up her drunk and passed out sister, Maggie (Diaz) from her 10-year high school reunion.When Rose tries to take Maggie back home where she stills lives with her parents, Maggie is kicked out by her wicked stepmother, Sydelle.
Although angry and apart, the two can't help but miss the other desperately.The movie, based on the novel by Jennifer Weiner, was brilliantly re-written for the big screen by Susannah Grant and directed by Curtis Hanson.All of the actors did an award winning performance although the Oscar should definitely go to Collette who simply shined.I believe that Cameron Diaz had a little too much of the spotlight in the trailers and promotional poster, but fortunately was not all the focus in the actual movie.Overall In Her Shoes gets four out of four stars.
It almost seems as though there are two movies going on even though they are both from the same book: 1) Rose (Toni Colette) coming to terms with how much being her sister's keeper has saved her from dealing with the fact that she hasn't really allowed herself to develop or find out what she's really about; and 2) Cameron Diaz's shallow and self-absorbed "bad girl", a habitual user, going down to Florida to scam her grandmother and finally discovering that she's not such an unredeemable loser after all.The problem for me is that the latter is such well-worn territory that showing all her episodes of personal failure prior to her grand faux pas of having sex with her sister's boyfriend become increasingly repetitive wastes of time -- especially the sequence with the two guys who take her to the impound lot and the first sequence that lands her in jail.
I had apprehension about "In Her Shoes" because Cameron Diaz has been in so many movies where she plays just a fluff of a character.
It was much more enjoyable then expected.The movie stars Cameron Diez and Toni Collette as sisters Maggie and Rose and they could not be more different.
Diaz plays the character of Maggie Feller, the younger and slacker sister of Rose (Cotllette).