The filmmakers put a good number of sweet, tender, appealing gestures into it...yet the movie comes off leaving one vaguely disappointed.
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Sometimes we forget that despite his making a rash of mindless comedies in the last few years ("Bringing Down the House," "Cheaper By the Dozen"), Steve Martin can be more than the wild-and-crazy guy of old or the mainstream comic actor of more-recent memory. "The Spanish Prisoner," "Bowfinger," and his play "Picasso at the Lapin Agile" are proof enough that he has a more serious side, too. Written, produced by, and co-starring Martin, the 2005 film "Shopgirl," based on his own novella, is a bittersweet, on occasion gently humorous, yet somewhat befuddled romance.
The movie is a contemporary love story with a balmy spirit and a few twists, or shifts, in that Martin's film deals with hidden intentions, mistaken identities, personality differences, age distinctions, loneliness, and the various ways that people cope and compromise in dealing with each matter. The opening-title music sets the tone for the slightly melancholic concoction that follows. If the movie doesn't completely satisfy one's longing for more substance and rather skims over the surface of relationships, well, perhaps that is the nature of most of life's affairs. The movie's main failing is in being neither fish nor fowl, neither romantic enough nor humorous enough (OK, nor enlightening enough) to be one thing or another.
Claire Danes stars as Mirabelle Buttersfield, a young woman who works behind the glove counter at a posh apparels store in Los Angeles (Saks Fifth Avenue). Although she is in daily contact with wealth and glamor, she goes home to a dingy, one-bedroom apartment, where as a struggling artist she dabbles in her favorite pursuits, sketching and drawing. She sells a few of her works, but she has really given up hope of ever succeeding in the art world, or succeeding at anything for that matter. She feels quite empty and alone.
In a voice-over narration, Martin tells us (though not as the character he plays in the movie), "Mirabelle Buttersfield moved from Vermont hoping to begin her life, and now she is stranded in the vast openness of L.A. She keeps working to make connections, but the pile of near misses is starting to overwhelm her. What Mirabelle needs is an omniscient voice to illuminate and spotlight her and to inform everyone that this one has value, this one standing behind the counter in the glove department. And then to find her counterpart and bring him to her."
If those lines sound rather bookish or even pedantic, remember that Martin probably took them directly from his novella (which I have not read). Pretentious or not, the words have a nice poetic ring to them, suggesting to us that this is to be a kind of morality tale; and that while the story may have strong figurative implications, maybe one should not take any of it too literally.
The story concerns two men that Mirabelle meets, who change her life. The first fellow is Jeremy Kraft (Jason Schwartzman), a poor, uncouth, unkempt young man who works as a stenciler for a guitar amplifier company. He is different, to say the least. He thinks about fonts a lot, and his idea of a good time on a first date is to sit in front of an IMAX theater and watch the people going in. Mirabelle pays their way. Later in the story, Jeremy goes on a road trip with a rock band, which drastically changes his way of life, and he has a brief dalliance with one of Mirabelle's sexy, scheming fellow employees (Bridgette Wilson-Sampras).
The second man in Mirabelle's life is Ray Porter (Steve Martin), the direct opposite of Jeremy. Ray is rich, suave, sophisticated, and old enough to be Mirabelle's father (Martin spots Danes about thirty-three years here). On their first date, Ray and Mirabelle have dinner at a fancy restaurant. How rich is he? He's got houses in L.A. and Seattle (where he makes his money in computers) and a private jet for commuting between the two. He's caring and considerate and likes Mirabelle very much, but he's not interested in a lasting relationship. He thinks he makes this clear to Mirabelle, but it isn't so; Mirabelle can't understand why Ray doesn't love her. Martin plays Ray completely seriously, with just a hint of sadness.
The film forced me to consider several questions that may have been unintentional: First, why would a woman so attractive and so intelligent as Mirabelle be unable to find a suitable companion? Is she mentally unstable to a degree only hinted at in the film? Second, why would Mirabelle take such quick interest in an oddball like Jeremy or an older man like Ray? Is she so desperate for friendship, even the goofy Jeremy's? Is it Ray's money and worldly refinement that appeal to her, or is she looking for security, possibly a father figure? Third, is Jeremy really as big a weirdo as he acts? And is possible for anyone to transform so radically as he does in so short a time? Fourth, is Ray genuinely interested in cultivating a serious friendship, or is he basically just a dirty old man rich enough to indulge his fantasies by using people? Fifth, what is the future of either of Mirabelle's relationships? Is it clear to any of them? Is any of this true love, or is it mere lust?
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[release]18441[/release]