In Her Shoes film review

certificate_12A

IN HER SHOES

Director Curtis Hanson (LA Confidential, 8 Mile) changes direction again with his latest film, an unexpectedly enjoyable, funny and sentimental affair which pushes all the right chick-flick buttons but has plenty to keep boys interested as well. Based on Jennifer Weiner's best-selling novel, the film contains three strong female performances which may well be in with a shout come awards time.

Toni Collette and Cameron Diaz star as Rose and Maggie, two sisters who couldn't be more different if they tried. Rose is a straight-laced corporate lawyer, who lives alone in a Bridget Jones world where the men in her life love her and very much leave her. Maggie, on the other hand, is a feisty slacker with no job and no idea of responsibility, who we first encounter having sex with a stranger in a public toilet before promptly throwing up.

Rose has supported Maggie for ten years with decreasing amounts of patience, and the final straw comes when Maggie sleeps with Rose's boss - a senior lawyer who Rose herself has a crush on. The two sisters split: Rose to leave her job and reassess her life, and Maggie to the one place she has never been: her long-lost grandmother (Shirley MacLaine) who lives in a retirement community in Florida.

The film then charts the two sisters' separate lives, before a finale that is both expected but satisfying. There are plenty of laughs along the way as Maggie tries to adjust to living in a world where everyone is over 70, and Rose begins a relationship with a guy (Mark Feuerstein) who seems too perfect but appears to be the real deal.

The picture offers all three leading ladies plenty of scope and all three pass the test with flying colours. Collette is, as ever, wonderful as the frumpy sister who turns into a beautiful swan, while MacLaine delivers an excellent understated turn as the grandmother (ably assisted by a superb cast of elderly actors in the retirement home).

But it's Diaz who reaches her coming-of-age as an actress. She neatly subverts her frothy image, and arguably has the most challenging role as her character undergoes the greatest change. She has always been a warm and charismatic screen presence and now she finally wins her acting stripes. Oh - there are also plenty of scenes in which she frolics about half-naked.