"In Her Shoes"

For my choice of movie this week I chose "In Her Shoes."  I have seen this movie before which made it easier to analyze instead of trying to figure out what was going on during it.  I liked how the movie opens with the two sisters each in their own worlds and how it shows how different they really are from each other.  First you've got Rose who is ultimate conservative and then their is the wild child, Maggie.  This movie shows the ultimate sister situation that happens in real life.  Either you have sisters who are almost identical in their personalities or you get two sisters who couldn't be more different as is the case here.

This movie is the ultimate example of the complexity of human relationships theme.  Not only does it focus on the relationship between Rose and Maggie but there is also the relationships between Rose and Simon, Maggie and her grandmother, and the two girls with their father.  Also there are the relationships formed between the elderly people and the ones formed between the girls and the elderly.  First in the movie they are all your basic kind of relationships but as the movie progresses those simple relationships turn into something deep and meaningful.

"In Her Shoes" shows not only how these girls resolve a conflict between themselves but also makes the point of how everyone deals with the loss of a loved one.  The true incident of what happened to Rose and Maggies' mother doesn't come through until later in the movie which makes the direction of the movie change a bit as it has to focus on the girls dealing with this.  It also deals with Rose having to deal with her low self-esteem and how she learns to feel better about herself.  Maggie has to learn how to grow up and take responsibility for herself.

I liked the focus of the shoes throughout the movie and how at the beginning they were just shoes that sat in Rose's closet and gradually you see her actually wearing them.  It shows how Rose is beginning to see herself differently and how she is feeling better about who she is.  With Maggie she always had that self confidence but really no respect for herself.  During the film she begins to realize that she is good at something and that she can apply it to her life.  Throughout the movie both of the girls go through their own self discoveries to find out who they really are.

During the movie the poems turned out to be a real significant factor.  The poems allowed Maggie to connect with the elderly man in the care center.  By him helping her to read it makes her feel accomplished and she learns that she can do things that once seemed impossible.  When Maggie was reading the poem about losing a friend it really tied her feelings to Rose.  It made us feel sorry for what they were going through and really pulls the audience into their true feelings and how they really need each other.  Having the poem read during Rose's wedding really showed how the two girls really feel for one another and how important they are in each others' lives.

I really enjoyed this movie with its different resolutions to the problems, the deepening relationships, and the little bits of comedy thrown into the mix.