Shopgirl

Steve Martin wrote the screenplay and served as co-producer for this screen adaptation of his short novel, which takes a witty but bittersweet look at a young woman and the two men involved with her. Mirabelle Buttersfield (Claire Danes) is an aspiring artist in her mid-twenties who, after graduating from college, moved to Los Angeles, where she works at the glove counter of an upscale department store. Mirabelle's job is simple and not demanding, but it doesn't pay especially well, and she finds herself struggling to get out from under a growing mountain of debt from student loans and credit cards. One night, while doing her laundry, Mirabelle meets Jeremy (Jason Schwartzman), a scruffy but likable would-be musician who makes ends meet selling guitar amps. While Jeremy is obviously infatuated with Mirabelle, she isn't sure how she feels about him, especially after she meets Ray Porter (Steve Martin), a man in his fifties whom she meets at the store. Ray is independently wealthy, intelligent, and charming, and after asking her out on a date he sweeps her off her feet. However, while Mirabelle quickly falls for Ray and he's generous to a fault with her, he refuses to commit exclusively to her and suggests they should both see other people, a prospect that no longer holds much appeal for her. Shopgirl received its world premiere at the 2005 Toronto Film Festival. — Mark Deming

Claire Danes gives an interesting performance in Shopgirl. Her character is looking for happiness and fulfillment, but she suffers from depression and takes medication that flattens out her moods. Her Mirabelle Buttersfield has a pretty good clue as to what she wants out of life, she is simply having trouble finding it. Ray Porter, the older man who romances her, sees her as a delicate, elegant, fragile creature. Those adjectives are all accurate descriptions of her, but they certainly do not describe her completely. Steve Martin imbues Ray with an inherent coldness that never thaws, even as he gets himself more involved with her than he ever intended to. One of the best aspects of the film is the cinematography by regular David Cronenberg DP Peter Suschitzky. The stylish look of the film also has a fragile beauty that encourages the audience to see Mirabelle exactly as Ray does, something that makes her performance all the more interesting. The audience begins to see more in her than Ray does. The love triangle involving the two of them and Jason Schwartzman's twentysomething Jeremy plays out with a simple straightforwardness that suffers mostly because one of these three characters does not grow up — anyone should figure out early on who will end up with whom. The film moves at a deliberate pace that allows the viewer to understand and appreciate Mirabelle's many wonderful qualities, but neither of the men seem particularly worthy of her even if one does become an obviously better choice. As a romance, Shopgirl comes up short, but as a portrait of a young woman at an early crossroads in her life, the film offers a mix of emotional truth and nonjudgmental observation that makes it a worthy character study. — Perry Seibert