MOVIE REVIEW
A Walk in my Shoes
Network: NBC
Original Air Date: December 3, 2010
CAST:
Nancy Travis ... Trish / Cindy
Jackson Pace ... Mikey Kremer
Cameron Deane Stewart ... Justin Kremer
Jana Lee Hamblin ... Cindy Kremer
Philip Winchester ... Jake
Yara Martinez ... Molly - the Angel
Betty Moyer ... Phoebe
Elijah Nelson ... Toby
Sarah Willey ... Head Cheerleader
Shanga Parker ... Coach Kellums
Tra'Renee Chambers ... Nurse in Clinic
Will Cuddy ... Cool Dude Guy
Timi Rutter ... Woman at Carnival
PLOT:
A Walk in My Shoes makes viewers stop and think, What would I learn if I stepped into someone else's life? Stressed-out high school teacher Trish Fahey (Nancy Travis, Three Men and a Baby, Becker) can't understand her students' lack of effort in the classroom and why their parents don't seem to care. This is especially true of Justin Kremer (Cameron Deane Stewart), a popular, skateboard-loving, basketball star who is under performing in her class. Trish has him suspended from the basketball team and quickly chalks up the situation as a case of bad parenting.
This perspective dramatically changes when Trish meets Molly (Yara Martinez, My Own Worst Enemy), a mysterious stranger intent on helping her see things differently. After a car accident, Trish wakes to find herself living the life of Cindy Kremer, the woman she has rashly judged and criticized. Molly helps Trish discover that there is more to the story and learns a powerful lesson that affects everyone she interacts with, including her husband, daughter and the Marine next door. No one is left unchanged.
Movie Review:
At times, this movie was very interesting and thought provoking... and at other times, I found it be very strange.
I'll do my best to explain... there could be some Spoilers - so be ware!
Trish Fahey (Nancy Travis), a very busy, by the rules, teacher - is totally not understanding to her husband, children, or students lives and feelings. Well, she is in a small car accident, visited by a woman, who I believe was an Angel (but acted very strangely throughout the rest of the movie) and poof suddenly Trish is not herself anymore... but instead, she is Cindy, the Mother of one of her students. She quickly adapts herself into this new life as a waitress and a widowed Mother of two boys. Her growing relationship with these boys is the best part of the movie and realizing their emotions and feelings since the passing of their father.
A new neighbor moves in next door to them - Jake, a Marine, and I think - surely he and the mother (Cindy) are meant to get together...as he bonds with both boys and takes the family in when they are evicted from their home, but no - that doesn't happen. He is often visited by this same angel, a woman named Molly, who also visited Trish - but she is often quite weird. In one scene she is dancing around and there is no music or reason for her to be doing it. The marine seems strangely attracted to her. It's just very odd.
There were some aspects that were interesting - especially about the teacher, Trish, who is literally walking in the shoes of this mother, Cindy, and doing her best to live her life and keep everything together. She helps the oldest boy, Justin, deal with his past and he finally writes his English paper about what event changed his life. Of course, it was about losing his father. She also learns that her actual daughter is more interested in arts and dancing than in academics, and realizes how much her husband needs just to talk to her at the end of the day.
I don't think most children would stick with this movie - I think it would be way too complicated and confusing for them - as the storyline jumps around a lot. It's interesting, at times, but it is rather slow moving at other times. In the end, which was only a few weeks later, I'm guessing, Trish returns back to her normal life, but she is changed now, and she and her husband anonymously help out Cindy Kremer and her sons- so they can keep their home, and the Marine living next door to them, that just moved in - is suddenly all packed up and moving away. As he drives down the road - the angel or mysterious stranger, Molly, appears next to him and then, they go to the fair. And, that's the end.
*Note: This is not a Christmas Movie: however, in one beautiful, touching scene, the young boy, Mikey, and Jake (the Marine/Neighbor) put beautiful Colored Christmas Lights on the house because the boy wants his father to see them from Heaven. Mikey asks Jake,
Do you believe in God?, and Jake says,
Yes, then Mikey asks,
Where was God when my father died?, and Jake says gently,
Right beside him.
I was touched by this scene... I wish the rest of the movie could have been more like this moment.
See or Skip:
Maybe, see it on TV, but skip getting this one on DVD.
A Walk in my Shoes -
Available on DVD
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