In Her Shoes

Three divine performances make what could’ve been a drab soap opera shine. In Her Shoes, the latest from director Curtis Hanson (L.A. Confidential, Wonder Boys) provides a showcase for Cameron Diaz, Toni Collette and Shirley MacLaine, and each of them takes full advantage of it. Bad girl Maggie (Diaz) gets in trouble with her sister, Rose (Collette), and finds herself seeking out her long lost grandmother (MacLaine). Both siblings eventually reunite with her, discovering the history of their dead mother and attaining a bright new outlook on life. In the hands of lesser talents, this could’ve been mundane crap, but Hanson and company make it all very entertaining. Diaz gets her first great role in a long while. Collette is her always reliable self. The film’s biggest triumph is MacLaine’s, who finally gets to play a real person after a long line of caricatures.