dir. Hanson
Opens Fri Oct 7
Various Theaters
Cameron Diaz always plays characters that make me gag, and there has yet to be an exception to this rule. Take In Her Shoes, where Diaz plays Maggie, a twentysomething who specializes in stealing, lying, and slutting it up for the guys. (Any guy. Even her straight-laced sister's love interest.)
The movie focuses on the lives of Maggie and her older sister, Rose (Toni Collette), who were raised by their father and a bitchy step-mom after their mother died. At first, it's only clear how completely and stereotypically opposite the sisters are from each other: Maggie's a seductive, fulltime party girl with no responsibilities, while Rose is a plain, lonely workaholic who has her own flat and about a hojillion pairs of shoes. But when Maggie gets kicked out of her parents' house, she and Rose discover they have a grandmother they never knew. So—having nowhere else to go—Maggie takes a train down to Miami to sponge off Grammy, and, of course, ends up learning a lot about her deceased mother and herself.
In Her Shoes is, at times, both hilarious and heartbreaking. And while the film can border on the cheesy side of things, director Curtis Hanson (L.A. Confidential, Wonder Boys, and 8 Mile) keeps a steady, redemptive genuineness throughout the film. While all the ads and posters are featuring the gag-inducing Diaz, it's Collette who's really good here, with a performance that makes the film into something worth watching. That said, be forewarned this is a total chick flick—take a girlfriend who'll who has no problem shamelessly laughing her ass off and bawling her eyes out (I did both). As for the guys—well, there's really not much here of interest, aside from seeing Diaz trollop around in next to nothing. But hey, maybe your gag reflex isn't as sensitive as mine.
