|
Trailer
Official Site Director: Anand Tucker
Producer: Ashok Amritraj, Jon J. Jashni, Steve Martin
Stars: Claire Danes,
Jason Schwartzman, Steve Martin, Bridgette Wilson
MPAA Rating: R
Year of Release: 2005
Running Time : 104 minutes A film review by
Christopher Null
Based on his movies and comedy, Steve Martin appears to truly hate Los
Angeles. And yet he keeps coming back here to make movies about how the
city makes people so uncommonly fulfilled. It's love and hate. Passive
and aggressive. Come to think of it, that's a lot like his new film
Shopgirl.
Based
on a 130-page story by Martin that is commonly termed a novella,
Shopgirl is about a Saks 5th Avenue glove counter clerk named Mirabelle
(Claire Danes). There's not much call for gloves in Los Angeles, so
Mirabelle spends most of her days expressionlessly leaning against the
glass, waiting for life to start. By night, she occasionally sketches a
nude picture of herself: She's also an artist, again waiting to be
discovered.
And so Mirabelle's life
does begin, thanks to the near-simultaneous arrival of two men:
Proto-slacker Jeremy (Jason Schwartzman) and obscenely wealthy (yet
humble), late-middle-aged Ray (Martin). Mirabelle finds herself
strangely smitten with both guys, though they couldn't be more
different. Jeremy has a job as a "font designer" -- which turns out to
largely involve spray-painting logos on amplifiers. He's dead broke and
is emotionally retarded to the point where one wonders if Martin
actually has any contact with anyone younger than 40 in the real world.
Ray
is a "logician" who travels frequently for business via private jet.
(Whoa, that's some rich math geek.) He picks up Mirabelle at the Saks
counter and whisks her away from her one bedroom and into a life of
Spago takeout, fine wine, and Armani ball gowns. When he explains to
her that he wants to "keep his options open" -- and she misinterprets
this -- the film makes its clearest statement, about how men and women
see relationships differently. It's a bit cliché, but Ray is basically
just using Mirabelle for sex, while Mirabelle is expecting Ray to end
up with her, despite him being 40 years her senior.
When Martin was goofing off with Sarah Jessica Parker in 1991's L.A.
Story it was kind of quaint and cute. Now that Martin is a full sixty
years old, the whole May-December thing has gotten a little creepy.
About
halfway through Shopgirl you realize that there's not going to be a
wild story erupting that, oh, gets Mirabelle pregnant and confused over
the identity of the father. The biggest twist comes, and I hope this
isn't a spoiler, when we find out that Mirabelle has stopped taking her
antidepressants. Whoa!
Directed by
Anand Tucker (Hilary and Jackie), Shopgirl is a very pretty, moody, and
lovely movie to watch. It's not really about anything, and the story is
incredibly slight, but it's enchanting in the way a piano sonata can
be. Maybe it's the natural charm of Danes that makes it feel so
gossamer light, coupled with the goofy antics of Schwartzman which
provide the proper amount of comic relief. It's a film that washes over
you, and one that is ultimately so pleasant I've had trouble getting it
out of my head.
On the other hand, I
might just be confused by it all. The lack of momentum ultimately makes
you focus on the message of Shopgirl, which is admittedly weak. Ray
never really learns his lesson. Mirabelle never becomes self-actualized
(though thankfully she gets back on her meds). And the only character,
Jeremy, who really changes owes it all to the power of self-help books
on tape. Though the film would like to be about how men and women see
relationships differently, it's really about how Steve Martin and women
see relationships differently. If you are Steve Martin, this film is
definitely for you. Anyone else may want to take a date.
|
