A List Of Things Thrown Five Minutes Ago

"SO MUCH EXTRAORDINARY TALENT HAS GONE INTO THE BATTER THAT IT'S NO WONDER THE CAKE CAME OUT WITH A SMILE": While I'm comfortable allowing others' praise of In Her Shoes to speak in place of my own today, I did want to share with you a short list of Things You Can Notice During In Her Shoes When You See It This Weekend (You Will See It This Weekend, Okay?) That Will Make You Feel Smarter Than The Person You're Sitting Next To:

• Notice the nods to Curtis Hanson's prior and next movies. Like 8 Mile, it begins with a lead character vomiting in a public restroom (and has a passing reference to "the new Eminem video" during one scene). Like his upcoming Lucky You, images of poker are everpresent.
• Rose's best friend, Amy? Played by the same actress, Brooke Smith, who was down the oubliette as Catherine Martin in Silence of the Lambs. And Jerry Adler (Lewis Feldman) has a decidedly different role on "The Sopranos" as Hesh.
• During a crucial scene, Simon Stein offers Rose a single Mento. For about 15-20 of this site's readers, this is a fact of much significance.
• There really is a Jamaican Jerk Hut in Philadelphia.
• While "the Professor" is unnamed during the movie, in the script he is named "Professor Sofield" in honor of David Sofield, a poetry professor at Amherst College, alma mater of both screenwriter Susannah Grant ('84) and co-star Ken Howard ('66).
• Jen and I once had really awful service while on vacation at a restaurant called the Canal House, so bad that we left the restaurant because no one even brought us a menu after 15 minutes. This will help one reference in the movie make sense.
• Despite her importance to the script, MyMarcia does not have a single speaking line.

Enjoy the movie, folks.