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Shopgirl
Steve Martin scores as the star and screenwriter of a 2005 melodrama called Shopgirl that actually evokes the cinematic memories its title implies.
Mirabelle (Claire Danes) is a salesgirl at the LA branch of Saks Fifth Avenue who begins seeing a goofy, penniless artist who lives in her building named Jeremy (Jason Schwartzman). After a couple of awkward dates, Jeremy impulsively decides to go on the road with a rock band at the same time Mirabelle meets a wealthy businessman named Ray Porter (Martin) who begins an affair with Mirabelle.
Martin actually adapted this screenplay from his own novella that hearkens back to the melodramas from the 30's and 40's that Joan Crawford and Ginger Rogers were famous for...the hard-working career girl who longs for romance and would give up the career in a split second if the right man came along. Every time the camera glimpses Mirabelle behind her counter at Saks, you can see that selling gloves is the last thing on her mind and she thinks and we hope she may have found what she's looking for in Ray Porter.
Martin's problematic screenplay does paint Mirabelle as a bit of a dim bulb where Ray is concerned...it is clear to us that Ray is not looking for anything permanent and aggravating when he tells his shrink that he has made this clear to Mirabelle when it's so obvious that he hasn't. Martin takes the traditional movie triangle and gives it some tweaks that work and some that don't. It was weird the way the Jeremy character was almost taken out of the story completely so that Mirabelle could be led on by Ray to the eventual heartbreak we see coming. One third of the romantic triangle was offscreen for a good chunk of the story. On the other hand, I also found Mirabelle suddenly finding Jeremy relationship material after he puts on a white suit a little hard to take. Martin's script does try to make Ray sympathetic, but that's nearly impossible...every time he's on the road to being decent, he says just the wrong thing at the wrong time. I do like that writer Martin allowed Martin's character to be so seriously flawed;
Director Anand Tucker brings some style to the story with some really interesting camera work that creates some really lovely cinematic pictures. Martin's performance as Ray is slick yet beautifully understated, unlike anything he has ever done. Danes is a lovely leading lady and Schwartzman's goofy charm here is quite endearing and a lot more fun than his normally arrogant screen persona. I also loved Barrington Pheloung's gorgeous music. There are twists and turns in the story that aggravate and sometimes make you want to strangle Martin's character, but it's a pretty compelling journey for the most part.
Steve Martin scores as the star and screenwriter of a 2005 melodrama called Shopgirl that actually evokes the cinematic memories its title implies.
Mirabelle (Claire Danes) is a salesgirl at the LA branch of Saks Fifth Avenue who begins seeing a goofy, penniless artist who lives in her building named Jeremy (Jason Schwartzman). After a couple of awkward dates, Jeremy impulsively decides to go on the road with a rock band at the same time Mirabelle meets a wealthy businessman named Ray Porter (Martin) who begins an affair with Mirabelle.
Martin actually adapted this screenplay from his own novella that hearkens back to the melodramas from the 30's and 40's that Joan Crawford and Ginger Rogers were famous for...the hard-working career girl who longs for romance and would give up the career in a split second if the right man came along. Every time the camera glimpses Mirabelle behind her counter at Saks, you can see that selling gloves is the last thing on her mind and she thinks and we hope she may have found what she's looking for in Ray Porter.
Martin's problematic screenplay does paint Mirabelle as a bit of a dim bulb where Ray is concerned...it is clear to us that Ray is not looking for anything permanent and aggravating when he tells his shrink that he has made this clear to Mirabelle when it's so obvious that he hasn't. Martin takes the traditional movie triangle and gives it some tweaks that work and some that don't. It was weird the way the Jeremy character was almost taken out of the story completely so that Mirabelle could be led on by Ray to the eventual heartbreak we see coming. One third of the romantic triangle was offscreen for a good chunk of the story. On the other hand, I also found Mirabelle suddenly finding Jeremy relationship material after he puts on a white suit a little hard to take. Martin's script does try to make Ray sympathetic, but that's nearly impossible...every time he's on the road to being decent, he says just the wrong thing at the wrong time. I do like that writer Martin allowed Martin's character to be so seriously flawed;
Director Anand Tucker brings some style to the story with some really interesting camera work that creates some really lovely cinematic pictures. Martin's performance as Ray is slick yet beautifully understated, unlike anything he has ever done. Danes is a lovely leading lady and Schwartzman's goofy charm here is quite endearing and a lot more fun than his normally arrogant screen persona. I also loved Barrington Pheloung's gorgeous music. There are twists and turns in the story that aggravate and sometimes make you want to strangle Martin's character, but it's a pretty compelling journey for the most part.