Shopgirl
Starring: Steve Martin, Claire Danes, Jason Schwartzman, Bridgette Wilson-Sampras, Frances Conroy, Sam Bottoms, Rebecca Pidgeon, Joshua Snyder
Directed by: Anand Tucker

Released in the US: October 21st, 2005
Released in the UK: February 2006

Reviewed by: The Boneman, ZBoneman.com

Shopgirl represents the second time I’ve had the pleasure of viewing a naked Claire Danes in as many weeks. Having just recently rented Stage Beauty at the behest of Mark at Blockbuster (I mention Mark because, who knows, he might give me some free shit now), Mark was right about Stage Beauty, I enjoyed it, just as I enjoyed Danes’ rather uninhibited performance. Her ass is the stuff of art, but she’s virtually breastless. (The only part of her breasts that can rightly be considered convex are her nipples - still there’s something I find particularly hot about breastless women - as long as they’re not men).

Shopgirl is a smart film with many insightful points to make about the nature of loneliness, and sex as a Band-Aid for it - which can sometimes masquerades as love, if one is desperate enough for the latter. It’s also nothing like the film I was expecting. From reading about it and seeing the trailers, you would guess that Steve Martin the rich, stable older man, would vie for the affections of Danes against the young, disheveled and quirky Jason Schwartzman and that in the end one would win out over the other, probably Schwartzman. Actually the film is nothing like this at all.

Danes plays Mirabelle Buttersfield a refuge of Vermont who has come to L.A. to try her hand at art, and who works at Saks behind the glove counter, daydreaming about a wise, omniscient being that would take notice of her lonely plight, recognize her inherent worth and beauty and in turn deliver the perfect man that would fit her like a glove (perhaps that’s a metaphor Martin intended and if so, I just noticed) I mention Martin in such a fashion because the film is based on his novella, which he adapted for the screen. Occasionally he narrates from it, but this is kept to a minimum and what there is of it is pretty necessary exposition. As an actor this is the ultra-restrained Martin, the Spanish Prisoner Martin who trades on absolutely none of his routine mannerisms. And as such Shopgirl really shouldn’t be thought of as a comedy. There are a few funny things that happen and Schwartzman’s idiosyncratic character is funny in reaction, but I don’t remember laughing once during the film. Though I did smile.

Shopgirl is not unlike the more subdued work of Woody Allen or Albert Brooks, where the strange machinations of love relationships are the subject matter. After meeting Jeremy (Shwartzman) in a Laundromat, Mirabelle takes an interest in the fellow artist, with his quirky ways and Bohemian good looks, but their relationship gets off to a rocky start. Out of sheer loneliness she decides to have sex with him, but when his condom turns out to be a mint she insists that he run out and get one amid his protests that it would ruin the mood. Which is kind of funny in retrospect because the mood consisted of her asking him pretty much out of the blue if he wants to have sex. Still, mindful of the mood, he meets her neighbor as he leaves the house and manages to borrow a condom from him. Needless to say she’s mortified when the truth comes out as to how he was able to obtain the item so quickly. As far as comedy goes, that was pretty much the highlight, but again, Shopgirl is not a film that depends in the least on laughs.

One day at work, Mirabelle is wistfully watching a woman play a sugar daddy for anything that strikes her fancy when up steps Ray Porter (Martin). He solicits her opinion about which gloves would be the most appropriate and makes a favorable impression (maybe he said something funny) probably cute, and when she gets home from work there is a gift at her doorstep. Which turns out to be the selfsame gloves Ray had purchased and an invitation to dinner with a phone number.

In the meantime, a strange opportunity has come Jeremy’s way. Thus far his artistic career has only produced one source of income - he created a logo (using a font he developed - fonts are his real passion as an artist - kind of funny) for a brand of guitar amplifiers and somehow (for reasons that are not explained well - probably because there was no plausible way to explain it) Jeremy is invited to hop on a tour bus with a band called Hot Tears. In real life the band is Sun Kil Moon, headed by none other than Mark Kozelek (one of our favorites here at zboneman) not only does Kozelek pen several songs for the soundtrack, but he also has a rather sizable speaking part. In any case Schwartzman agrees and hence, virtually disappears from the second act.

Thus the film pretty much revolves around the relationship between Mirabelle and Ray. Again Martin throws a twist at the audience as the relationship pretty much goes the opposite of what you’d expect. Mirabelle does eventually call Ray, under the auspices of discovering how he found out where she lived. As their tryst begins, it all goes according to Hoyle, there is the awkwardness that accompanies their vast age difference, their lack of common interests that narrows the scope of their conversations, all of which Ray turns to his advantage by merely acknowledging them. At one point he asks her “if this were one of those dating reality shows - would you already have given me the boot?” Soon Ray falls back on lavishing Mirabelle with expensive gifts and trying to impress her with his success.

They have sex the first time that Ray brings her to his lavish home, but like his home, which is sparsely decorated, sterile and cold, Mirabelle finds little of substance to grasp onto and build with. There is one particularly well-written scene where it really hits us that it’s not Mirabelle but actually Ray who has the upper hand in the relationship. A scene that is cross cut between a conversation Ray is having with his shrink, and a conversation Mirabelle is having with her friends at work. While Ray denigrates the relationship, and stresses that he’s being completely open about their relationship being exclusively about sex, Mirabelle is holding forth on what a warm and tender man Ray is and how he is committed to her 100%. The beauty of the scene is that both characters know that they are lying and it is up to us to decide which is more committed to their deceit.

The source of Ray’s wealth stems from an internet business that necessitates frequent trips to Seattle where he keeps another home, and things come to a head, when he decides to be an up-front kinda guy and tell her that he slept with someone while he was away. (Incidentally the someone is Rebecca Pigeon, who is so wonderful and whom I love deeply and whom is not in nearly enough films - perhaps because she’s married to David Mamet?)
In any case this bit of honesty does not have the desired effect Ray had intended and it causes Mirabelle to shut herself off and instead of going to New York with him for Thanksgiving which had been the plan she was so excited about - she decides in favor of going to stay with her parents. Her folks are stolid and low-key (Sam Bottoms and Frances Conroy - who is every bit as closed-off and strangely distant as she was in Broken Flowers.) Ray calls to apologize, and in one of the films more affecting moments, he asks her to reconsider, while, with Mirabelle, we watch her mother and father eat in stifling silence. Let’s just say she has a change of heart.

It isn’t long before Mirabelle comes to the realization that Ray is not a man easily given to any kind of emotional demonstration and probably never will be (making her breakfast after their first night together is as far as he is able to reach out) Still she holds out hope for him, in spite of all the evidence to the contrary. The film does come to an interesting resolve once Jeremy returns from his long strange implausible trip. Cleaned up now and cutting a fine figure of a man, he is ready to give Mirabelle another try. I won’t give much else away, Martin has to some extent hedged his bet with this ending, you can either choose bittersweet or happy, both are offered in equal portion - according to which man you most identify with. And I do believe now upon reflection, that Martin has placed himself in the role of that wise, omniscient one, who recognizes her inherent worth and beauty then delivers. Good movie. It’s not going to rock anybody’s world, but I found it sweet and satisfying and I can now safely say that Claire Danes is no longer the “My So Called Life” angst-waif of yesteryear. She’s become a real actress capable of delivering wonderfully mature performances, of which this is her best so far - and may well bring award consideration.

Grade: B