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249 comments in total

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128 out of 182 people found the following comment useful :-
It will be as misunderstood as Lost in Translation, 6 November 2005

Author: Greg (gregmoroberts@yahoo.com) from Oakville, Ontario

Let me make this easy for you. Shopgirl reminds me a lot of Lost in Translation.

With one sentence, I am sure I have turned off more than a handful of people that are now searching other movie titles of interest.

Funny really. Lost in Translation was one of those films that the critics adored. It was a quiet and quaint film that delivered an absorbing story without explosions or over drawn out comedic moments.

Yet, it was one of those films that I could not find a casual film watcher enjoyed. Or even understood for that matter.

I think it was due to its pacing and under toned performances by the two leads. Nothing was forced either in conversation and in turn, back down the audience's throat. Instead, it just went about telling the story of two people who happened to meet and make a connection.

Shopgirl is not dissimilar. The story (based on a novella by Steve Martin) concerns well, a shopgirl at Saks Fifth Avenue named Mirabelle (played wonderfully by Claire Danes). Fresh from Vermont and trying to make it as an artist in the hustle and bustle that is Los Angeles, Mirabelle in the span of just a few days goes from someone of plain existence that the world seems to have ignored to being the apple in the eyes of two suitors that couldn't be more different from each other.

In one corner and out of the gate first is Jeremy (Jason Schwartzman of Betwitched fame). Jeremy is the dirty weird guy that you meet in a laundromat. He seems nervous when he talks to women and his idea of a date is anything under the eight dollars he has in his wallet.

In the other corner is Ray Porter (Steve Martin). Ray shows up at Saks one day and makes a purchase from Mirabelle that ends up on her doorstep with an invitation of dinner soon after. Porter is loaded and in his courtship of Mirabelle he is able to lavish her with gifts beyond her accepted imagination.

But under the surface, the two suitors are even further apart than their bank balances would suggest. Porter is a man of high society who is always looking for the 'next thing' without any regard to those to which he is involved with at the time. Meanwhile, Jeremy is as sincere as it comes. He wears his heart on his sleeve and tries hard to learn about relationships in hopes of winning over the very impressionable Mirabelle.

The story then sculpts Mirabelle's highs and lows with both men leading to her ultimate decision that is both logical and acceptable even if projected right from the opening chapters.

Shopgirl is one of those guilty pleasures. It's good storytelling without MTV songs ringing in our ears or tragic moments that define ones future decisions. It is based in reality. Or as close to reality that Los Angeles allows.

And much like Lost in Translation, Shopgirl's backbone is the strength of the lead actors. In particular Claire Danes, who will give Charlize Theron a run for the gold when the awards season beings in just a few weeks. As Mirabelle, she is able to project vulnerability and confidence while exuding emotions of emotional pain and heartfelt love that grounds her performance allowing us to understand her decisions even if they don't all turn out to her benefit.

The result is one of the quietest and best films of the year that much like Lost, no one will see until it starts running on satellite early next year.

www.gregsrants.com

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90 out of 125 people found the following comment useful :-
Only Connect, 31 October 2005

Author: JackCerf from United States

Edward Hopper was the great painter of urban loneliness. Shopgirl had two perfectly composed and lit shots that could pass for Hopper paintings -- the one where we first see Mirabelle behind the glove counter at Saks, and the one where she solves the problem of how exactly to cross the intimacy threshold with Ray for the first time. Both involve the display of exquisite merchandise to customers who have excellent taste but don't quite appreciate the full value of what's being offered.

The relationship between Ray and Mirabelle is, of course, a transaction. Ray is what used to be called a sugar daddy. He knows it, and within the limits of that role he is apparently a generous and considerate keeper. We aren't given Ray's back story, but it is not hard to guess that a symbolic logician who made a fortune in computers might have been socially challenged, to put it mildly, as a young man, and suffered a good deal of rejection from women. He can now buy what he couldn't then woo, but experience has taught him never to relinquish control and never to let himself be vulnerable. A few hundred million dollars have cleaned up his exterior nicely and given him power over his surroundings, but the inner nerd is still there.

Mirabelle certainly appreciates the value of what Ray can do for her. Consider the shot in Vermont where she gazes at her dried out, prematurely worn mother and decides she'll meet Ray in New York after all. But Mirabelle refuses to admit to herself that she is only being kept. We are meant to think the better of her for her self deception. The sluttish, annoying and frankly mercenary but cheerfully self aware Lisa is there to draw an unfavorable contrast with Mirabelle. Paradoxically, it is Mirabelle's self-deceived integrity, and her refusal to use the crude manipulations Lisa suggests, that make her a more exquisite ornament for Ray -- gourmet arm candy for a man with the finest taste. Both women are punished for self deception, but Lisa suffers only comic humiliation while Mirabelle sets herself up for real pain.

Jeremy has the makings of a Ray in him, but we are meant to believe that he has -- implausibly -- attained emotional enlightenment, if not the capacity for articulate speech or sustained rational thought. He has earned Mirabelle, we are told, because he has remade himself to be worthy of her. Love may not conquer all in this bittersweet anti-romance, but it still does better than break even.

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79 out of 115 people found the following comment useful :-
Shopping For Company, 20 November 2005

Author: arichmondfwc from United States

Claire Danes has become a lanky, elegant movie star in the old Hollywood tradition and "Shopgirl" showcases it without a doubt. She was always a good actress but now she's more than that. Her character is a genuine creation that moves in logical if unpredictable patterns. Steve Martin, the most self effacing of the contemporary American comedic geniuses, is becoming quasi french in his story telling style without betraying his utter Americaness. I have a feeling that he'll continue to surprise us and I for one will wait eagerly for his next move. The thinking clown if there ever was one. Jason Schwartzman belongs to the quirky Coppola, Nicolas Cageish school of acting and he is a delight. Odd and sexy in the most irresistible way. The film has an intellectual pace and a sad smile at its center. A real original American comedy for the new millennium.

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54 out of 66 people found the following comment useful :-
Sometimes faith in Steve Martin IS justified, 4 January 2006

Author: nineandthreequarters from Australia

It's no real secret that through his writing, Steve Martin has depth and sentimentality that Hollywood doesn't always let him show. He has shown signs of a longing to grow old gracefully (as his almost gimmick-free gigs as Oscar host have shown) and let his acerbic wit and insight drive projects more than the over-the-top slapstick antics of the 1970s Steve Martin.

It's also no real secret that many of his recent films have been far from great.

So, still having faith in the man, and having loved the novel on which this film is based, I went in to the cinema desperately wanting to like it, but expecting to be disappointed. Largely, I was pleasantly surprised that the novel did transfer well to the screen.

Some of the credit for this belongs to director Anand Tucker, who has created some powerful images of the hustle and bustle of the LA that Martin describes in the novel, and contrasts it well with the characters who lead shallow lives, trying to be something meaningful amongst all the chaos.

Credit also goes to the actors who show that longing that drives the situation: Claire Daines as Mirabelle clearly WANTS to be social, artistic, loved; Jason Schwartzman as Jeremy WANTS to be sensitive, witty, lovable; Martin as Ray Porter clearly WANTS to be suave and considerate. Without having many jokes in the script, audiences can still appreciate the humour by seeing these pathetic struggles. When I saw it there was plenty of laughter at all the right moments.

I will, however, hasten to add that there are parts of the book that never would have translated well to the Hollywood screen, and the praise that some give the movie for serving its purpose will contain the same reasons that others wish to knock it. The book's strength is that one can feel for the characters because they are portrayed as superficial people and their lives and conversations are so shallow in comparison to the narrative that sets them up. The reasons why it works so well as a book could well be the very things that cause it to not work on the screen. Then there's the matter of a book that's so rooted in "LA sux" sentiment being made into a Hollywood movie. So maybe the musical overkill reeked of "excuse me, we're trying to tell you something". Maybe the spots of narration felt out of place and indicated that Martin is not yet over his desire to spend his life as the 'star' of his projects (him getting top billing for the movie was also a bit much, in my opinion).

Ultimately, maybe the audience members who were longing for a film with more 'depth' and 'substance' were in actuality sharing the characters' longings for the same in their own lives. Maybe the 'criticisms' are in fact backhanded compliments that the film is largely doing just what it's meant to do.

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75 out of 124 people found the following comment useful :-
AndThe Oscar Goes To..., 28 October 2005

Author: Stamp-3 from London, England

Funny and sad, sweet and acerbic, Shopgirl is quite simply the most rewarding experience of the year. I have not read Steve Martin's novel, but from what I knew of it I kinda thought the movie would be good. What I did not expect was an experience so involving, so compelling and simply so delightful. Good, interesting characters start with the writing; great characters emerge when the actors enhance the writers vision. And we see three great examples of this here.

Everything about this film was note perfect; a terrific, slightly idiosyncratic story, wonderful scenes that sometimes have you laughing, sometimes wiping away a tear and always inviting your rapt attention. Terrific acting and direction which ensured that every scene was "just enough".

There is a word that is hardly ever used today, and if it is, it's usually in a sneering way; and that word is "sophistication". But "Shopgirl" is a truly sophisticated movie. Not in the superficial and secondary sense of being glamorous or even cultured, but in the better sense of intelligence, complexity and subtlety. And there is real intelligence at work here; and while all involved display it, it is Steve Martin's own vision that ultimately informs every aspect of the film.

The success of "Million Dollar Baby" gave me new respect for the Oscars; is it too much too hope that "Shopgirl" could achieve the same recognition?

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41 out of 57 people found the following comment useful :-
Lost in the Vast Openness, 8 November 2005

Author: David Ferguson (fergusontx@gmail.com) from Dallas, Texas

Greetings again from the darkness. Gotta hand it to 60 year old Steve Martin. He cranks out the easy hits like "Father of the Bride" and "Cheaper by the Dozen" so that he can do his own pet projects like the underrated "Bowfinger" and now "Shopgirl". Based on his own novella, Martin explores the mid-life fantasy of a powerful, rich businessman who takes on a beautiful, younger, unspoiled country girl from Vermont.

While the insight into quiet desperation is always fascinating, Martin's script fails to really show any human connection between the three leads. Martin's own character, while easily the most privileged, is far and away the most distant and least interesting. The always interesting Claire Danes desperately wants to be loved and escape the ever-present cold existence of Vermont which continues to haunt her. Jason Schwartzman (fast cornering the market on quirky to the point of annoying dudes) is initially enamored with the idea of being with Claire (or anyone) but goes on the road with a rock band and finds himself ... or at least educates himself on how to fit into society.

Not sure if any of the characters have any real redeeming qualities, but they do make for moderately interesting film-making. Bridgette Wilson (Mrs. Pete Sampras) has a fluffy role as the envious make-up queen, Sam Bottoms makes a rare screen appearance as Danes say-little Dad and Francis Conroy (Beautiful Flowers, Six Feet Under) has a brief appearance as Daines Mom. Interesting side note is that Rebecca Pigeon has a small role ... she is the real life wife of the great David Mamet.

Although, the lighting is atrocious and distracting in most every scene, you do find yourself hoping that someone, ANYONE, discovers a moment of real happiness. Yes, this story could have been better presented, but it is worth watching to view first hand how people pretend to connect.

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46 out of 73 people found the following comment useful :-
Pathetic chauvinist fantasy., 13 November 2005

Author: FilmSnobby from San Diego

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

A strange new cinematic sub-genre has emerged recently: dramas of late-middle-age starring members of the original cast -- the "Not Ready for Prime-Time Players" -- of "Saturday Night Live". Steve Martin's *Shopgirl*, based on his novella, is the latest entry. One wonders, with no small sense of dread, what's going to come next: Dan Ackroyd as a lonely widower facing prostate cancer? Jane Curtin as a retiring waitress who is faced with the choice of either paying her heating bill or continuing her Zocor prescription? Chevy Chase battling a Viagra addiction? It's becoming apparent that Bill Murray's existential angst isn't his alone. The Baby Boomers have officially turned 60 this year. What this means for the rest of us is that we'll have to face old age with them, given this generation's fondness for navel gazing. Expect a slew of movies in the next several years on the topic of aging gracefully or otherwise. We may even have a sequel to *The Big Chill*, in which the characters will make passes at their grandkids' wives or husbands.

For, as Steve Martin makes clear, Free Love is still an option for these aging hippies. He plays Ray Porter, an incalculably wealthy computer tycoon who divides his time between Seattle and Los Angeles. (He jets back and forth between them on a private plane.) While in L.A., he goes to Saks Fifth Avenue and buys a pair of elegant black gloves, becomes smitten with girl who sells him the gloves, and somehow gets her address and SENDS the gloves to her apartment along with a note asking her to dinner. Claire Danes' Mirabelle, a reserved transplant from Vermont, is the perfect prey for this roué. Martin contrasts Mirabelle with one of her co-workers, a classless, slutty Bridgette Wilson-Sampras, the type who would be too cynically wise to actually fall in love with the old man. For, despite Ray's early protestation to the contrary, Mirabelle's adoring devotedness is exactly what he wants out of this relationship of convenience. He can dominate an innocent girl with the unruffled ease to which he's become accustomed.

I'm afraid I'm not buying any of this. Martin quite explicitly makes Ray a monster, but then goes out of his way to make sure that we like him. After all, he takes Mirabelle to the doctor when she's depressed and later on pays off her college loan. Martin then exacerbates matters by having Ray actually verbalize his awareness of his own fundamental indecency: he says things like, "The financial stuff I can help you with. It's the other stuff . . ." and so on. Oh, please. WHY must we like Ray Porter, anyway? Does it have something to do with the fact that he is Steve Martin's creation, perhaps? Never underestimate the egotism of writers.

And to make sure that the 60-year-old seems like a Dream Come True for Mirabelle, Martin conceives his more age-appropriate romantic rival Jeremy (the grotesquely hairy Jason Schwartzman) as a borderline retard with the most obscure profession I've yet seen in film: a stencil artist for guitar amplifiers. Jeremy lumbers around the early portions of the film in slack-jawed idiocy, leaving in his wake, Pig Pen-like, a cloud of body odor and a trail of body hair. He keeps hitting up Mirabelle for money in order to "pay" for their dates. He drives a crappy car. Get the picture? Later in the film, Jeremy becomes a mature adult after listening to cheesy self-help tapes while touring as a roadie with a rock band, the maturity made evident by Schwartzman's shaved face, slicked-back hair, and natty white suit (by a name-designer) that looks to be pulled from the rack of the Miami Vice fashion police. (By the way, what IS it with these type of movies having a recurring motif of self-help tapes? -- cf. *Lost in Translation*. This is something MARTIN'S generation does! The Dot Net kids mock that stuff!) I'm pretty positive that Martin wrote the novella with a possible film in mind in which he would star as Ray -- and, if so, what a stunning display of pettiness, to say nothing of sheer egomania. Some competition, eh? Do Ray and Jeremy really constitute the choices for a beautiful girl in her twenties: a 60-year-old roué and a slacker who behaves like a 12-year-old? You know, French films frequently tackle this subject matter, but the girl is given a reasonable alternative between a still-vital handsome professional in his forties and a good-looking, charming kid. In *Shopgirl*, it's either the suave King Midas of Social Security age or a bum. Give me a break.

Finally, one gets the sense that it's really all about the money for Steve Martin. A lot of name-dropping going on, here: Armani, famous L.A. restaurants (Ray and Mirabelle eat take-out from Spago at Ray's elegantly post-modern house), and so on. Don't forget Jeremy's transformation in that name-designer white suit. Martin couldn't even come up with a fake name for Saks. If he was trying to be satirical about crass commercialism, it must have sailed over my head: the comforts of Ray's life are presented as a glamorous option for Mirabelle, if she just plays along. Martin, in a third-person narration, sums up the action of the film at the end by suggesting Mirabelle would have stayed with Ray if he had loved her just a bit more. Turns out that, to modify Paul McCartney, money can ALMOST buy you love. It never occurs to this Baby Boomer that a healthy, wholesome, decent young woman might want to build a life with someone her own age. *Shopgirl* is a pathetic chauvinist fantasy that isn't as aware of this fact as it thinks it is.

2 stars out of 10 -- the second star earned by some occasionally fanciful direction by Anand Tucker.

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38 out of 59 people found the following comment useful :-
A Charming Little Gem, 30 October 2005

Author: Josie_Owen from Canada

I went into Shopgirl with high expectations, and, unlike some other films that dissappoint me, all the hype was right this time. I loved this movie. Claire Danes was perfectly cast as Mirabelle, and seems able to pull off the "torn- between- two- men" role. Jason Schwartzman, who plays Jeremy, the first of the two men to fall for Mirabelle, is adorably goofy, and effortlessly slips into character. And Steve Martin, who plays Ray, the second (and *MUCH* older) man to fall for Mirabelle, is the kind of character who you want to dislike, but can't help falling for. I recommend this movie to anyone. It's an adorable, charming little gem of a film.

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36 out of 58 people found the following comment useful :-
Bittersweet romance, 12 November 2005

Author: jotix100 from New York

"Shopgirl", the magnificent novella by Steve Martin, finally arrives as a movie that expands on the text, as Anand Tucker, its director, demonstrates. Steve Martin also adapted his own story, which works well with the movie version since he knows what he wants to say and how to present the story in cinematic terms.

This film is about how sometimes a man, who evidently is a successful business person, can't see what he does to a woman who, in spite of the warnings, has fallen deeply in love with him. Ray Porter, is an egotistical man, incapable of expressing his emotions unless they are in the form of material things. Ray is an empty man who can buy whoever he wants to be with, but who demands there will be no strings attached to any sort of relationship.

Mirabelle, the young gloves sales lady at Los Angeles' Saks 5th Ave., is a lonely girl who has relocated to the city from Vermont. It's hard for anyone in that environment to connect with people, especially in a place like L.A. where no one talks to one another and everyone seems to be impressed with celebrities that are to be seen everywhere. Mirabelle is destined to a life of loneliness until two men appear at about the same time, the goofy Jeremy, and Ray Porter.

Jeremy likes Mirabelle in his own crazy way. Mirabelle responds to him because he means easy companionship without complications. When Ray appears on the scene, Mirabelle has no clue about what she is getting in for. Before anything, Ray makes it clear he wants no commitment, and no attachment. It's just a convenient situation for him as he has calculated that Mirabelle is perhaps a sexual diversion, at best. He finally reveals what he really has in mind when he tells the girl his intentions for the New York apartment, something that he hasn't included her in, at all.

This bittersweet story comes alive because of Claire Danes great performance as Mirabelle. Ms. Danes is perfectly cast as Mirabelle. Steve Martin's characterization as Ray Porter, is superb in his take about this man. Mr. Martin clearly understands what this man is really like and what makes him tick. Both these actors contribute to making their characters feel real.

On the other hand, the goofy performance from Jason Schartzman is distracting from the other story. The best sequence involves the beautiful Bridgette Wilson in thinking Jeremy is the real Ray Porter.

The excellent cinematography by Peter Suschitzky gives "Shopgirl" a sophisticated look that goes perfectly with the story being told. Anand Tucker directed with elegance and a sure hand making the film a winner.

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42 out of 73 people found the following comment useful :-
This is no time to stop believing in love!, 27 December 2005

Author: icelandknight from Reykjavik, Iceland

Just saw it... Wow! What an EXCELLENT movie! Several appropriate quotes come to mind: There's hope for love, yet! I may be a GUY and all that, but it was definitely handkerchief time a few times during this movie!

I'd like to get the ONLY negative observation out of the way at the start, I feel Steve Martin could have skipped some of the voice overs, or STOPPED earlier, giving us SOME credit for appreciating the situation, without having to spoon feed it to us in case we missed it. If that had been skipped it would have been PERFECT. - I realize, though, in today's numbed (read that as "dumb") society some of the people may not get the whole story, so I guess the thinking people must make allowances for him trying to put his point across to them, but there you go.

This is a great LOVE date movie. You can even expect to get married soon after you see it with a partner! Also expect it raising questions in your relationship. Where you're going with it, will it be going anywhere, etc.

In case you haven't seen it, here's a quick plot synopsis: It's somewhat romantic a story of a girl working at a rather expensive department store who dates two guys who are very different. First the young, uncouth, immature and impulsive guy. Then a rich, suave, intense and sophisticated guy (Steve Martin). Basically it's a moral tale that puts her in various situations which puts the audience sympathy on her side. It is unfair, the way she is treated, and if it inspires someone to be more less like the characters, more truthful and honest, it will have served it's purpose, and entertained you at the same time.

That's what makes it so great.

It's one of these movies where you leave feeling you're a better person than when you came into the cinema.

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