Movie Review: In Her Shoes
Rate This Article
What Parents Should Know
Parents should know that the film includes sexual references
(images and language); indeed, it opens on fragmented shots of
a drunken sexual encounter in a bathroom at high school
reunion. Focused on the tensions between two grownup sisters,
one a rowdy rebel and the other a prototypical "good girl," the
movie pays particular attention to familial conflicts, secrets,
and traumatic history (the sisters discuss the mother's
suicide, committed when they were children; their father is
remarried to a woman who treats them disdainfully). Characters
use some crude language, usually in anger or surprise,
including multiple uses of the s-word and hell, and slang for
sex and genitals. One character reads aloud from a romance
novel (including predictable, here comic, references to heaving
breasts and sexual passion); and an episode of
Sex and the City on TV refers to sexual activity. The
rebellious sister wears skimpy clothing, including bikinis and
underwear. Characters drink (to the point of vomiting) and
smoke. The rebellious sister steals money and other items,
sometimes from family members.
Families can talk about the sisters' long-term, mutual resentments and distrusts. How does the sisters' competition for attention shape their relationship? How can they reconcile with one another by sharing basic truths? (The fact that Maggie's dyslexia has remained undiagnosed all her life is especially troubling.) How does the father's dishonesty about his troubles with their mother and her mother/their grandmother also a source of conflict?
Common Sense Media Review
Although frequently formulaic and often slick, IN HER SHOES
nevertheless features some strong performances, emotional
conflicts, and heartwarming reconciliations. Maggie (Cameron
Diaz) is something of a ditz, perennially irresponsible, drunk,
reckless, and promiscuous. Her sister Rose (Toni Collette) is a
workaholic lawyer in Philadelphia who's just started to date
her boss, even though he has a reputation as a womanizer.
Kicked out of their father's (Ken Tucker) home -- where he
lives with his second wife, the odious Sydelle (Candice Azzara)
-- Maggie moves in to Rose's apartment.
The sisters' conflicts are deeply rooted, of course, going back to Rose's resentment that she had to take care of Maggie as a child (their mother died when they were young, and they eventually learn that her car accident was a suicide) and Maggie's simmering resentment of Rose's seeming perfection. They interact primarily by way of snapless one-liners, as when Rose suggests Maggie look for a job ("There's a whole world of commerce out there that has nothing to do with sex") or Maggie uncleverly deplores her sister's fashion sensibility ("1994 called; it wants its hair scrunchy back").
The sisters' most prominent shared interest is shoes, as objects of desire and signs of emotional stability. Rose has a closet full of them, expensive, neatly arranged and mostly un-worn ("Shoes always fit," she says, "I treat myself when I feel bad"). But where Rose preserves shoes, Maggie wants to wear them; as soon as Rose leaves for work, Maggie going through her closet, picking the most stiletto heels and outrageous boots. When Maggie commits a predictable act of (sexual) betrayal, Rose demands that she leave.
Their road to reunion thus takes a detour, as Maggie moves to Florida, where the girls' proud, cynical, and engaging grandmother, Ella (Shirley MacClaine) lives in a retirement community. Following initial tensions between, Maggie and Ella come to appreciate their similarities (stubbornness, insecurity posing as arrogance, anger refitted as independence). Maggie's swimwear makes her a big hit among the men at poolside, and her ability to shop for others -- framed as a career-worthy talent -- wins favor with the ladies.
While Maggie and Ella bond, Rose quits her job, starts walking dogs (a movie-style indication of her freed spirit), and is pursued by a decent boyfriend, a former colleague named Simon (Mark Feuerstein). The film eventually allows the three women to come together, better understanding themselves in relation to one another and their shared sensibilities.
Families who enjoy this movie might also like Collette's drag queen comedy, Connie and Carla, Diaz's competing friends' comedy, My Best Friend's Wedding, or movies about sisters, including Deliver Us from Eva, Mystic Pizza, My Sister Eileen (1942), and the extraordinary Housekeeping (1987).
Common Sense Media is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing information to help parents make media and entertainment choices for their families.
