"In Her Shoes" starring Cameron Diaz and Toni Collette is one of those movies which firmly deserve the title of being a chick flick, especially with it being an adaptation of Jennifer Weiner's chick-lit novel. Like with many such movies it is definitely a movie which will appeal mainly to female audiences and as I'm not, the likelihood that I would really enjoy "In Her Shoes" was slim. In fact for the first half an hour I was struggling to really get into it, but then director Curtis Hanson manages to step it up turning the early predictable nonsense into something with intelligence and a surprising charm.

Despite being sisters Rose (Toni Collette - About a Boy) and Maggie Feller (Cameron Diaz - What Happens in Vegas) have very little in common other than their shoe size. Rose, the elder of the sisters is career minded with a good job, whilst Maggie a free spirit who struggles to hold down a job enjoys partying and casual relationships. When Rose allows Maggie to move in with her in her Philadelphia apartment their already awkward relationships becomes too difficult when Rose catches Maggie in bed with her boyfriend and she heads off to find her Grandmother Ella (Shirley MacLaine - The Trouble with Harry).

As already mentioned "In Her Shoes" is an adaptation of the hugely popular novel by Jennifer Weiner and safely resides in being a movie which targets female audiences as it tells a tale of rivalry between two sisters, Maggie and Rose realistically played by Cameron Diaz and Toni Collette. The trouble is that to really enjoy "In Her Shoes" you have to get past the first half hour which is completely predictable and seems to go absolutely nowhere. Straight away the movie sets up the two sisters and their individual stereotypes with Rose being a career minded lawyer whilst her younger sister Maggie is a party girl who lives life on her looks. But then it dwells in this area for far too long building up these characters and relationship too the point that it feels over done and forced.

But once we get past all of this and "In Her Shoes" moves into what I would call the meat of the movie, as each of the sisters develops away from their stereotypes as well as dealing with where their lives are heading, the movie gets significantly better. It still seems to drift along at times as if it has no real direction but the developments makes it far more interesting. It is also at this point where we get introduced to Rose and Maggie's estranged Grandmother and just the introduction of this prominent character played by a wonderful Shirley MacLaine makes "In Her Shoes" slip out of predictable nonsense into a much more intelligent drama which rises from the boredom of the first few scenes.

Don't get me wrong though, as whilst "In Her Shoes" becomes a far more interesting movie than initially expected it never hits the heights of being an intense, emotional drama which will tug at your heart strings. In fact the attempts to derive emotion from the audience are frankly rather weak and so obvious that it never gets the tears flowing like other chick-flicks manage.

Although the storyline is surprisingly good it is the stars and characters which make "In Her Shoes" work so well, especially the trio of Cameron Diaz, Toni Collette and Shirley MacLaine. Cameron Diaz, is surprisingly good as Maggie the party girl, not because with her stunning looks she fits the stereotype but the journey she goes on as she discovers that she can achieve more than just getting drunk at parties. Like wise Toni Collette fits the ideal of career minded Rose perfectly who struggles with her own insecurities due to being slightly over weight. But as with Maggie it is the development of the character which is the most interesting and the way she deals with those insecurities. The pairing of Cameron Diaz and Toni Collette may be a little surprising but it works well to highlight the differences in the characters.

But for me the real star of "In Her Shoes" is Shirley MacLaine who plays their grandmother. Her character, Ella, is pretty much the sort of role MacLaine has found herself playing in recent years but she does it so well. Ella's no nonsense approach to living is shown in every scene and helps turn "In Her Shoes" from being just another meaningless chick flick into something much more.

One of the strangest things about "In Her Shoes" is that it is directed by Curtis Hanson. Prior to helming "In Her Shoes" Hanson had delivered the likes of "8 Mile", "Wonder Boys" and "L.A. Confidential" all of which are as far away from a chick-flick that you could imagine. But it's not a bad thing as Hanson turns predictable nonsense on its head and delivers a stripped down movie which focuses on the development of the characters rather than residing in fluffy chick flick fun.

What this all boils down to is that "In Her Shoes" definitely won't be everyone's cup of tea and I don't just mean that men may hate it. It is not your typical chick flick and although not overly intense strays away from much predictable nonsense which makes up many popular women orientated movies. If you can get past the first half hour of what is quite cliche then "In Her Shoes" will deliver just enough drama to make it worth while and the performances of Cameron Diaz, Toni Collette as well as Shirley MacLaine definitely makes it a lot more enjoyable than first expected.