In Her Shoes

There’s a strange, lingering stigma attached to "chick flicks" from the mid-2000s, a sort of collective amnesia that paints every female-led film of the era as a neon-pink bubblegum fluff-piece. Then you revisit something like In Her Shoes, and you realize that Curtis Hanson—the man who gave us the gritty noir of L.A. Confidential and the cold, rhythmic pulse of 8 Mile—was actually the perfect person to direct a story about two sisters who can’t stand the sight of each other. He brings a grounded, almost surgical precision to a genre that is usually far too eager to please its audience with easy resolutions.

I watched this on a rainy Tuesday afternoon while struggling to fix a leaky faucet in my kitchen, and honestly, seeing the absolute wreckage of Maggie Feller’s life made me feel significantly better about my own plumbing incompetence.

The Hanson Touch and the Reality of Friction

What strikes me most about In Her Shoes looking back from the 2020s is how much it benefits from the "mid-budget studio drama" era that has since gone extinct. This isn't a film trying to launch a cinematic universe or sell a line of footwear (despite the title); it’s a character study that actually cares about its characters. Curtis Hanson treats the Philadelphia streets and the Florida retirement communities with the same dignity he gave to 1950s Hollywood.

The screenplay by Susannah Grant, who also penned Erin Brockovich, refuses to make either sister a total villain. Cameron Diaz plays Maggie, the "irresponsible one," with a desperate, vibrating energy. She’s gorgeous but functionally illiterate, using her sexuality as a shield against a world she can't actually read. Opposite her is Toni Collette as Rose, the "responsible one," a high-powered lawyer who uses her career and her walk-in closet full of designer shoes as a shield against her own loneliness. Toni Collette is a godsend here; she manages to make "sad and repressed" feel like a high-stakes thriller. Watching her meticulously organize her shoes while her life falls apart is a masterclass in subtle physical acting.

A Transformation That Earns Its Keep

The film takes a sharp turn in its second act that could have been disastrous in lesser hands. When Maggie gets kicked out by Rose—after sleeping with Rose’s boyfriend, played with perfect "generic scumbag" energy by Richard Burgi—the story shifts to a retirement community in Florida. This is where we meet the grandmother they never knew they had, Ella, played by the legendary Shirley MacLaine.

Shirley MacLaine is the secret weapon here. She doesn't play a cuddly, cookie-baking grandma. She’s sharp, guarded, and carries the weight of a family tragedy that the film reveals with agonizing patience. The scenes where Maggie begins working in the retirement home, befriending the elderly residents and finally confronting her dyslexia, could have been cloying. Instead, they feel like genuine growth. Cameron Diaz gives what might be the best performance of her career here; she strips away the "Charlie’s Angel" persona and shows us a woman who is genuinely terrified of being found out as "stupid." Her stepmother is basically a Disney villain with a sensible bob, but even that character feels like she’s reacting to real-world stress rather than just being evil for the plot’s sake.

Why It Still Fits

In the era of the DVD, In Her Shoes was the kind of movie you’d find in a "2 for $20" bin and realize was actually better than the blockbuster you saw in theaters. It captures a specific 2005 aesthetic—the chunky highlights, the flip phones, the transition from analog intimacy to digital distance—but the emotional core hasn't aged a day. It deals with mental health and family trauma with a surprisingly light touch, never descending into "Movie of the Week" melodrama.

One of my favorite bits of trivia is that Curtis Hanson was so committed to the realism of the sisters' bond that he had Toni Collette gain nearly 30 pounds for the role to highlight the physical contrast between the two women’s lifestyles, only for her to have to lose it all over again for the film's finale. It’s that kind of dedication to the "un-glamorous" side of a "glamour genre" that makes the film resonate. Also, Mark Feuerstein shows up as the "nice guy" love interest Simon, and he’s so charming he almost makes you forget that Richard Burgi plays the kind of guy who probably thinks 'Foreplay' is a golf term.

Ultimately, In Her Shoes is a film about the work required to be a family. It’s about the fact that you can share DNA and a shoe size but still be strangers until you decide to do the hard labor of listening. It’s funny, it’s genuinely moving, and it features a climax at a wedding that actually feels earned rather than forced. If you missed this one because you thought it was just another "shoe movie," it’s time to try it on for size. It holds up better than those mid-2000s platform heels ever did.