Movie #368 - Connie & Carla

Connie and Carla
2004 - Rated PG-13 - 1 hr 38 min
Director: Michael Lembeck
Starring: Nia Vardalos, Toni Collette, David Duchovny, Stephen Spinella, Alec Mapa, Ian Gomez

Two would-be stars accidentally witness a crime and have to go on the run.  They wind up in a bar performing show tunes as drag queens... and that's when things get complicated.

Genius premise - possibly the most inventive from writer Nia Vardalos, who also co-stars in this musical comedy.  Toni Collette is her unwavering sidekick and, when dressed in drag, bears a striking resemblance to Liza Minelli.  I never noticed that before. Huh.

So, yes, I love this one.  It's full of fun songs and fabulous drag queens. And it really looks like they had a blast making this one.  Well done all around and highly underrated. More people need to see this one.

Movie #302 - In Her Shoes

In Her Shoes
2005 - Rated PG-13 - 2 hr 10 min
Director: Curtis Hanson
Starring: Cameron Diaz, Toni Collette, Shirley MacLaine

Another book to movie, In Her Shoes is based on the best selling novel of the same title by Jennifer Weiner, a personal favorite of mine.  So I know this book well and I can honeslty say that the page-to-screen transition was not as smooth as I'd like to see.

Obviously, most of the "booky" scenes were cut out and the filmable scenes were made more "filmy."  As a stand alone piece, it's coherent and tells a very emotionally engaging story. Except for Cameron Diaz, who has the emotional engagement capacity of a dead fruit fly.  Toni Collette is great as Rose except for one minor detail: she's not overweight.  In the book and even in the movie itself, there are several references to Rose being overweight.  So there's Toni Collette saying, "Clothes don't fit right and food just makes me fatter" and you're thinking, "UM....what?!"  She could've plumped it up a bit.  Or cut the references to Rose's weight.  It's jarring how off-base the comments are, and dressing Collette in baggy clothes doesn't do enough to make you believe it.

Still, I can step back from the novel and just enjoy the movie for itself.  It's a charming story, one all sisters can find something in common with, and I do like watching it.  I prefer to read the book, but that takes longer than the 2 hours this does.