Review: “A Walk In My Shoes” new family movie

Due to a late release of the preview, I didn’t get a chance to review before the showing, but did want to mention again that this is the third in a joint venture between P&G and Walmart to make Friday night family TV night. They are trying to create real movies that are good for both adults and kids to watch together, which focus on positive values for kids to experience in an engaging film.

We were less excited about the second film in this experiment, The Jensen Project, which appealed to our little kids, but which just didn’t have the production values of a real movie. I enjoyed “A Walk in My Shoes” more. The subject matter, while incorporating some fantasy, was more adult than in “Jensen,” which was more of a high technology spy film made for kids. I also found the acting to be more subtle and easier to watch, largely due to Nancy Travis, who plays the lead role.

“A Walk in My Shoes” tells the story of a teacher magically put into the shoes of another person, the mother of one of her students. She gets to experience firsthand the other woman’s life and viewpoint and ends up judging her less harshly than she did in real life. While this plot device is a little contrived, and a shopworn in 2010, I found it oddly compelling, perhaps because I liked the main characters. Not all dads might agree, and it might be hard to find a family that would all watch this movie together, but it wasn’t an improved attempt by the P&G team and bodes well for their next film “A Change of Plans” which is due out in early 2011.

I want to support this project because there is such a huge delta between soporific kids shows that dads really don’t want to watch, and all the PG-rated shows that aren’t appropriate for kids under 13. I’m hoping P&G continues to get better as they develop more experience in this arena. So far, they are making good progress.

“A Walk in My Shoes” is available on DVD and we have one copy of the DVD plus Soundtrack available for readers who answer the following question in the comments section below: What is your favorite movie the whole family can watch and enjoy without being exposed to material that is inappropriate for some ages?

A Walk in My Shoes plot synopsis

“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 underperforming in her class. Trish has him suspended from the basketball team and quickly chalks up the situation as a case of bad parenting.

But this perspective dramatically changes when Trish meets Molly (Yara Martinez, My Own Worst Enemy), a mysterious stranger intent on helping her see things differently. When Trish wrecks her car, Molly is there as Trish wakes to find herself living the life of Cindy Kremer, the woman she has personally judged and criticized. Trish discovers that there is often more to the story and learns a powerful lesson that affects everyone she interacts with. Her husband, her daughter, the Marine next door… No one is left unchanged.


Note to readers: P&G invited me to the set of the feature film “A Change of Plans” due out in early 2011.. While they paid for transportation and lodging, no payment was made for this review, and my opinions are my own and not those of P&G or Walmart.