In Her Shoes

Two very dissimilar estranged sisters are reunited by a grandmother they never knew in this uncharacteristic offering from Curtis Hanson (L.A. Confidential). Based on a novel by Jennifer Weiner, In Her Shoes revolves around siblings Rose (Toni Collette) and Maggie (Cameron Diaz), the former a plain, driven attorney; the latter a gorgeous, ditzy freeloader. After Maggie beds Rose's boyfriend—leading to an acrimonious split between the sisters—Maggie discovers that her maternal grandmother (Shirley MacLaine) is alive and well in Florida, and immediately rushes there to impose on her. But under grandma's stern but loving tutelage, the girl learns responsibility, and when the dowager finds out about the sisters' fight she uses her wiles to get them back together again. An obviously manipulative saga of reconciliation and personal redemption, the film boasts some real strengths—most notably MacLaine—but it's hampered by Diaz's inability to make her chaaracter (an obnoxious, selfish leech) into an endearing figure deserving of the final turnaround. Perhaps Hanson intended In Her Shoes as a female counterpoint to his Wonder Boys, a quirky story about male bonding, but it feels more like a double feature candidate for Beaches. Optional. [Note: Available in either widescreen or full screen versions, DVD extras include “The People in the Shoes” featurette on the cast (16 min), “A Retirement Community for Acting Seniors” featurette on the elderly extras in the film (11 min.), “From Death Row to the Red Carpet: The Casting of Honeybun” on the dog appearing in the film (8 min.), and trailers. Bottom line: a so-so extras package for a so-so film.] (F. Swietek)