The Brothers Grimm and In Her Shoes

Last Sunday Brian and I caught a couple of movies at the dollar theater. The first was The Brothers Grimm directed by Terry Gilliam, starring Heath Ledger and Matt Damon. In short, it was a popcorn movie. It's one of those movies that I'd suggest catching at the discount theater, buying a tub of popcorn and just sitting back and enjoying a bit of a mindless flick. Don't expect to get anything out of it, just go into it lightly and have a good time zoning out for a couple hours. The basic premise is that the brothers are self-made heros. They research tall tales passed down by generations, then they send their friends into the town of a story's origin to perform some special effects and make the stories seem real. When the townsfolk are convinced the threat is real, the Brothers Grimm come in and "save the day." But then they are directed by the French authorities to go to a town where it turns out there is a real threat. This is what Jacob Grimm has been hoping for - a chance to prove that these stories are real and to become a real hero. The brothers fight over a girl, they fight a werewolf, they fight the magic spell, and they win. (As far as fighting over a girl, the love the brothers have for each other wins out.) As I said, it's a popcorn flick. Worth seeing in the discount theater, but I don't think I'd have paid $7.50 for it.

In Her Shoes was a little better. It's a chick flick. See it with your sister or your girlfriends. It's the story of two sisters. The older one, Rose, is a lawyer - very organized and put together, and has always had to look after and protect her younger sister. The younger one, Maggie, has never had a stable job in anything other than waitressing or retail. She's ten years out of high school and still has no idea what she wants to do with her life. Their mother was mentally unstable and committed suicide when they were young. After their mother died, their father was afraid that their grandmother would blame him for their mother's death so he shut her out of their lives. The grandmother sends birthday cards to her granddaughters every years, which the father stashes away. One day, after a major fight with her sister, Maggie heads over to her father's house. Digging through her father's things in search of cash, she discovers the birthday cards. So she heads off to the retirement community in Florida to meet the grandmother she never knew about.

It's really about the turning point in these sister's lives. Maggie grows up tries to make something of herself. Rose learns that she can't and shouldn't always protect her sister. For me sometimes what makes a good movie is if I can feel like I emotionally connect with the characters and understand what they're going through. Maggie has a learning disability and is a very slow reader. I never had difficulty reading to the extent that Maggie does, but I was always a bit slower than the others in my class. My sister was always the more put together of the two of us.

There was one scene which was particularily poigniant for me in which Rose and Maggie are talking to their grandmother about their childhood memories. The differences in what they remember are very revealing about each of their personalities and coping mechanisms, and how much Rose really did try to protect Maggie from. I don't think either of my parents was mentally unstable, but they did have their share of fights when I was young (once my sister and I were both married and out of the house they got divorced.) My sister was like Rose, the peacemaker between her parents. I was in my room listening to music, like Maggie. With such similarities I have to wonder about the psychology behind it. Are the peacemaker and the protected one typical roles for children whose parents are fighting?

Even though the story was a little more extreme than my own, because of the similarities that existed I couldn't help but enjoy this movie because I felt a connection to it. The ending was a little cheesy, but overall I thought it was a good story that was executed fairly well and was a little more realistic than some other movies out there.