# 84: In Her Shoes (2005)

codename: e.e. cummings

notable nomination-
golden globe for supporting actress shirley maclaine

director- curtis hanson
type- chick flick

notable cast:
rose- toni colette
maggie- cameron diaz
simon stein- mark feuerstein
ella hirsh- shirley maclaine

write-up:

first off, i'd like to say ahead of time that i apologize
for putting so many estrogen-heavy films
next to one another on this list.

this happened completely by accident,
but i regard each and every one of them equally.

in the spirit of the e.e. cummings poem maggie reads to rose
at the end of this movie, i'll write this entry in his unique style
although, regrettably, i have yet to make good on my promise to myself
that i would read more of his works

this is one of several films my family and i love to go back to time and time again
i believe it was one of the many in-flight movies my dad saw over the years while traveling overseas
he pledged it as a "sister" movie, something my mom and i can relate to quite a bit
she's one of 8 sisters in a family of 12 and i have a sister 3 yrs my junior

in homage and also because it's one of the most touching moments in the film
my mom read that e.e. cummings poem at the wedding of my cousin
who happens to be her godson

anyone well versed in proverbs knows the old saying that [more or less];
you won't truly know someone until you walk a mile in their moccasins

that saying is where the movie gets its title and for good reason:
sisters rose and maggie have the same shoe size,
a fact that infuriates rose in the early parts of the movie
especially when one pair winds up with the heel replaced with chewing gum

both women represent different walks of life:
rose is the responsible one with job security
maggie is the partygirl [seeming] who drinks and sleeps around a lot

the film begins with her being dissatisfied with maggie,
not wanting to be responsible for taking care of her all the time.
maggie has scarcely a care in the world, but hates
how rose judges her all the time

from both pov's, i can relate.
im the older sister not always a fan of that role
but deep down i know its something that comes with the job

i relate a little more to maggie, though
i feel really bad for her in the scenes early on
where rose seems unwilling to give her a chance
and believes that she'll always be a screw-up
maybe its cameron diaz's magnetism
or i just wanted to see her character succeed and overcome herself
we actually have very little in common with our personality-types and such

everything that could go wrong, does, for maggie before the relationship is pushed to its limit

she flunks an interview as an MTV VJ because she had trouble keeping up with the teleprompter
she takes care of dogs at a shelter, but accidentally takes one home...
rose's car got towed because she parked it in an illegal space
a couple of guys help her break it out
she has to fight one of them off when he tries to come onto her

rose finds the boot still on her car
but jumps to the obvious conclusions
when maggie tries to explain things to her

the final straw is when maggie sleeps with rose's boyfriend
and she has no choice but to kick her out of the house

maggie goes to her father's house to look for money
and finds some inside birthday cards from a grandmother she never met
she decides to track her down to her Florida retirement community

between the reviews and the golden globe nomination,
there is a lot of love for Shirley MacLaine in this film.
this was actually my first time seeing her in anything
and i feel in love just easily as everyone else
most of which had known of her years/decade before i did
ella is a very sweet woman, but she is as tough as they come
she has a no-nonsense attitude about her that you gotta admire

maggie spends the first couple days lying about by the pool
threatening to give all the male inhabitants heart attacks
wearing bikinis and halter-tops and such

strangely enough, i hate it when girls and women who show their bodies off like that
it makes me insecure with my own physique [at 5'4" and about 135lb]
but with these scenes with cameron diaz, i admire her and wish i looked that good
she isn't smug or stuck-up about showing off her body... she's just comfortable in it

when ella has maggie take care of different tasks at the senior's center,
she learns how to become a better reader when a retired school teacher (played by Norman Lloyd)asks her to read poetry to him
she reads "one art" by elizabeth bishop
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/one-art/
and he asks her to tell him what it means
... great couple of scenes, one of the best parts of the movie

and she also establishes a business for herself,
becoming a personal shopper for the women of the community
mrs. lefkowitz (francine beers) was the first one she helped
and afterwards, everyone else wanted her help
she's got an attitude almost as wiley as ella, but a very sweet little old lady

meanwhile back in philly, rose quits her law firm
inadvertently starts a dog-walking business
to cover up the fact maggie accidentally took one of the dogs home
and gets into a relationship with this lawyer, simon
played a sensible mark feuerstein

she finds out where maggie went,
demands, from her father, to know why they didn't know about this grandmother
he explains that they disagreed when it came to her mother, caroline
caroline died in a car accident years ago, which is suggested to be a suicide

she suffered from bi-polar disorder
ella, her mother, wanted her to stay on her meds
but caroline decided after a certain point that she couldn't live in that fog they caused anymore

rose and maggie's reconciliation comes at the heels of rose's engagement to simon
and her bridal shower where her stepmother humiliates her

they come to understanding with one another and eventually become closer than ever
the final scene is where maggie reads the poem at rose and simon's wedding

and to finish off this entry, I'll post it here

also, fyi:
my next two movies happen to star the same actress, one of my personal favorites, so i'm going to post my discussions about them in two entries next week

hope u enjoyed this entry and feel free to leave your comments below.

"i carry your heart with me"
by e.e. cummings
 

i carry your heart with me(i carry it in

my heart)i am never without it(anywhere

i go you go,my dear;and whatever is done

by only me is your doing,my darling)

                                                 i fear

no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want

no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)

and it’s you are whatever a moon has always meant

and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows

(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud

and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows

higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)

and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)