Curtis Hanson: The '00s
Wonder Boys
8 Mile
In Her Shoes (January 27/06)
It's not difficult to imagine the majority of male viewers having a tough time with In Her Shoes, which is - unapologetically - a chick flick through and through. The film revolves around a pair of sisters that couldn't possibly be any more different: Rose (Toni Collette) is a hard-working lawyer with low self-esteem, while Maggie (Cameron Diaz) has always relied on her looks to get by. Featuring a screenplay by Susannah Grant (working from Jennifer Weiner's novel) and direction from Curtis Hanson, In Her Shoes is - more often than not - an entertaining, genuinely touching look at the fractured relationship between these disparate siblings. Diaz and Collette deliver exceptionally strong performances (Diaz, in particular, nicely sends up her ditzy persona), effectively transforming their initially off-putting characters into figures worth rooting for and caring about. And though Grant's script occasionally delves into melodramatic and sentimental territory, there's no denying that In Her Shoes generally comes off as an honest and believable piece of work (which, despite a running time of over two hours, never feels overlong - a feat in itself).
out of
Lucky You (May 2/07)
It's not hard to see why Lucky You's been having problems securing a release date over the last few years, as the film ultimately possesses very little mainstream appeal (ie this certainly isn't the lightweight romantic comedy that the trailers have been promising). Saddled with an overlong running time and an exceedingly deliberate pace, the movie generally has the feel and tone of a low-key character study - with Eric Bana cast as Huck Cheever, a charismatic yet thoroughly compulsive poker player whose inability to walk away from a bet has essentially left him devoid of a personal life. The romantic subplot - revolving around Huck's on-again-off-again relationship with a would-be singer (played by Drew Barrymore) - is undoubtedly the least interesting element within Curtis Hanson and Eric Roth's screenplay, and there's little doubt that the inclusion of several other needless moments (coupled with a sporadic ten dancy to focus on the minutia of poker) ensures that the film is never entirely as compelling as one imagines it's supposed to be. Yet it's impossible to completely dismiss Lucky You; Bana's subtle performance is matched by an expectedly engaging turn from Robert Duvall as Huck's shady father, while director Hanson does a nice job of infusing the proceedings with a refreshingly laid-back vibe.
out of
