Shopgirl (film)
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| Shopgirl | |
|---|---|
 Original poster |
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| Directed by | Anand Tucker |
| Produced by | Ashok Amritraj Jon Jashni Steve Martin |
| Written by | Steve Martin |
| Starring | Steve Martin Claire Danes Jason Schwartzman |
| Music by | Barrington Pheloung |
| Cinematography | Peter Suschitzky |
| Editing by | David Gamble |
| Distributed by | Touchstone Pictures |
| Release date(s) | October 21, 2005  United StatesJanuary 20, 2006  United Kingdom |
| Running time | 104 minutes |
| Country | USA |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
Shopgirl is a 2005 American romantic drama film directed by Anand Tucker. The screenplay by Steve Martin is based on his bestselling 2000 novella of the same name.
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[edit] Plot synopsis
Mirabelle Buttersfield, a transplanted Vermonter, is an aspiring artist and saleswoman at the evening gloves counter at Saks Fifth Avenue in Beverly Hills. Her quiet, orderly existence - filled with both the mundane (futon furniture and an aging pickup truck) and the serious (a large student loan and a supply of antidepressants) - is disrupted by the sudden appearance of two disparate men. Ray Porter is a considerably older, suave, well-dressed, wealthy, divorced logician, while Jeremy is an immature, awkward, socially inept, penniless twentysomething amplifier salesman and aspiring font artist. Mirabelle finds herself swept off her feet by the former, who admits he may be unable to commit to her emotionally. The situation is further clouded when the latter falls madly in love with her; although she finds him considerably less desirable than his older rival, he is willing to offer her the promise of exclusivity.
Mirabelle and Ray embark on a lengthy affair, during which time Jeremy is working as a roadie for the band Hot Tears, whose lead singer Luther encourages him to improve himself and learn how to properly deal with the opposite sex via a number of self-help audio tapes. Mirabelle is devoted to Ray, who showers her with affection and expensive gifts but is unable to make a long-term commitment. He eventually cheats on her and confesses his indiscretion. They continue to date, until Mirabelle finally admits to herself their relationship never will have the permanence she wants. She leaves Ray, quits her job at Saks, and becomes a receptionist at an art gallery.
Jeremy returns and impresses Mirabelle with his improved manners and appearance. An attempt at a second date is successful and the two begin seeing each other.
Mirabelle meets Ray again at her gallery, where her art is being showcased. She insists she wants him to have a print she created while the two were together, and he finally admits he always loved her. They share an embrace, each knowing that there will be no reconciliation, before Mirabelle departs with Jeremy.
[edit] Production notes
In Steve Martin's original novella, Mirabelle was employed by Neiman Marcus. According to Evolution of a Novella: The Making of Shopgirl, a bonus feature on the DVD release, Saks Fifth Avenue actively pursued participation in the film by presenting a proposal to the producers and director and promising full cooperation with filming schedules. Strangely enough, the gloves in the counter are not actually from Saks, but rather a small boutique in Toronto, where some of the movie was filmed.
Martin had Tom Hanks in mind for the role of Ray Porter at the time he was writing the screenplay, but director Anand Tucker felt he was so close to the material and had such a strong understanding of the character he should play the part himself. After auditioning numerous actresses, he knew Claire Danes was perfect for the role of Mirabelle as soon as she began reading lines with Martin. He found Jeremy much more difficult to cast, and remembered Jason Schwartzman (but not his name) from his performance in Rushmore only two weeks before filming was scheduled to begin.
The apartment building used for Mirabelle's residence is located at 1630 Griffith Park Boulevard in Los Angeles.
The songs "Lily & Parrots," "Carry Me Ohio," and "Make Like Paper" were written and performed by Mark Kozelek. Tucker remembered him from his appearance in Almost Famous and cast him as the lead singer of Hot Tears. Both "Carry Me Ohio" and "Lily and Parrots" were tracks on Ghosts of the Great Highway, the first CD released by Kozelek's real-life band Sun Kil Moon.
The film premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in September 2005. It was shown at the Chicago International Film Festival and the Austin Film Festival before going into limited release in the US.
The film grossed $10,284,523 in the US and $827,554 in foreign markets for a total worldwide box office of $11,112,077 [1].
[edit] Principal cast
- Steve Martin ..... Ray Porter
- Claire Danes ..... Mirabelle
- Jason Schwartzman ..... Jeremy
- Mark Kozelek ..... Luther
- Bridgette Wilson-Sampras ..... Lisa Cramer
[edit] Critical reception
At Rotten Tomatoes, the film has 87 "Fresh" and 54 "Rotten" reviews, for an average rating of 6.4 out of 10 [2], and is rated the same (based on 37 reviews) at Metacritic [3].
In his review in the New York Times, A.O. Scott called the film "elegant and exquisitely tailored . . . both funny and sweetly sad" and added, "[It] is a resolutely small movie, finely made and perhaps a bit fragile. Under the pressure of too much thought, it might buckle and splinter; the characters might look flimsy, their comings and goings too neatly engineered, their lovability assumed rather than proven. And it's true that none of them are perfect. From where I sit, though, the film they inhabit comes pretty close." [4]
Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle described it as "a film of wisdom, emotional subtlety and power . . . directed with a rare combination of delicacy and decisiveness." [5]
In Variety, Joe Leydon observed, "Martin hits all the right notes while subtly conveying both the appealing sophistication and the purposeful reserve of Ray. But he cannot entirely avoid being overshadowed by Dane's endearingly vulnerable, emotionally multifaceted and fearlessly open performance. (In a few scenes, she appears so achingly luminescent it's almost heartbreaking to watch her.) The two stars bring out the very best in each other, particularly in a poignant final scene." [6]
Carina Chocano of the Los Angeles Times said the film is "like Pygmalion for the upper-middle-brow business class flier. Which isn't to say it's bad. On the contrary, it's smart, spare, elegant and understated . . . Danes can fill a scene with one wounded glance, and her body language alone conveys a richness of character that makes an otherwise not very expressive character mesmerizing." [7]
In Rolling Stone, Peter Travers rated it three out of a possible four stars and commented, "The May-December thing worked in Lost in Translation and it works here, thanks to the perceptive and gracefully romantic script that Martin has adapted from his novella. This is not the wild-and-crazy Martin of Bringing Down the House, this is the Martin who writes for The New Yorker with erudition and wit." [8]
Steve Persall of the St. Petersburg Times graded the film C and called it "too slight to be considered a movie yet padded enough to pose as a feature-length work . . . The blessing and curse of cinema is its ability to compress ideas into simple images. When the ideas are this simple, cinema crushes them to dullness. Mirabelle's unremarkable life simply doesn't deserve big screen treatment. Any author other than a Hollywood favorite like Martin likely wouldn't get it done." [9]
In New York, Ken Tucker stated, "The challenge of the movie consists of making you believe that these two people, separated by age and status, could fall in love. Shopgirl succeeds in this with a confidence so sure and serene that you feel through much of the movie as though you’re listening to a fairy tale, an effect enhanced by the voice-over narration provided in soothing tones by Martin-as-Ray." [10]
Susan Wloszczyna of USA Today said, "A serene luminescence surrounds Claire Danes [who] - reduced of late to action drivel (Terminator 3) or bit roles (The Hours) — finally fulfills the potent promise of her mid-'90s TV series My So-Called Life. Los Angeles doesn't look half-bad, either. When director Anand Tucker isn't training his camera on the jewel-like traffic lights below or the sparkling cosmos above, he portrays the City of Angels as a haven of spare elegance and urbane stylishness, as if it were Woody Allen's Manhattan but with better weather and inviting outdoor pools. But save for savoring Danes and an L.A. cleansed of gaudy excess, there is little that is truly novel about Shopgirl . . . The film ultimately lets Mirabelle down and leaves the viewer dissatisfied. A Lost in Translation drained of its wryly observed humor, Shopgirl is worth a browse. But it isn't always easy to buy." [11]
[edit] Nominations
- Satellite Award for Best Picture - Musical or Comedy
- Satellite Award for Best Adapted Screenplay
- Satellite Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy (Claire Danes)
- Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture (Jason Schwartzman)
- Costume Designers Guild Award for Best Costume Design - Contemporary Film (Nancy Steiner)
