Shopgirl
By: Mark Runyon | Category: On DVD | 04/24/06 | 09:59 PM
 |  |  Grade: B- | Genre: Drama
Summary: Overall, this is Claire Danes' film. She single-handedly transforms this piece into an intriguing watch from material that is fairly forgettable.
Freshman year of college, I had a rather sizeable crush on Claire Danes, or was it the character she played on My So-Called Life? It's hard to tell and funny how those things are pretty much inseparable at the time. Angela was the modern equivalent of Holden Caulfield, a square peg attempting to fit into a round world. She captured the heartache, exuberance and stifling existence of the teenage years in a way few actresses could. Its been ten years since My So-Called Life closed the doors on its solitary season, and in the years since, Claire has found herself much like Angela -- helpings of promise largely left unfulfilled. Chalk it up to choosing bum roles if you will or just not getting the choice scripts coming across her desk, but Hollywood has neglected this rare gem for much too long. Within the past few months, she's had two substantial roles (The Family Stone and Shopgirl) that have generated considerable buzz, bumping her squarely under that unaccustomed spotlight. Her work in Shopgirl is even getting her name mentioned as a potential nominee in the Oscar race for best actress. Truthfully, she's just giving us a look back at Angela Chase, swapping out the teenage angst for loneliness as the twilight of her twenties dim. |
Danes plays Mirabelle, an artist at heart who works behind the glove counter at Saks Fifth Avenue in Los Angeles. Her life is a droll existence, dealing with aching feet and battling the daily gridlock in her driving glasses. Nothing ever happens to jolt her into life. Then she meets the hapless Jeremy (Jason Schwartzman) in a dingy Laundromat as he tries to hide the big neon sign above his head, flashing weirdo. They go out on a date, and it's an unmitigated disaster. He whines when he doesn't get a kiss at the door. He shovels crap out of the passenger seat to clear a place for her to sit. He takes her to the movie only to watch the marquee then when she suggests they go Dutch, he has to bum a couple dollars off of her to buy a ticket. After the disastrous evening, Jeremy is surely history, but that ugly leak of desperation starts dripping again and she finds herself calling him over for a quickie. After an amusing discussion of using sandwich baggies as a raincoat and Jeremy copping a condom off of her neighbor Kenny, the horizontal action is in motion and not even the cat swiping at his balls will stop this sad love scene from thumping the headboard into the wall.
 | | | Shopgirl | | Starring: Steve Martin, Claire Danes, Jason Schwartzman, Bridgette Wilson-Sampras & Frances Conroy | | Director: Anand Tucker |
| | View the Trailer (Quicktime) |
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Then Ray (Steve Martin) walks into Mirabelle's life via the glove counter at Saks. He purchases gloves that he ends up sending to her as a means of asking her out. The sizable ick factor is inescapable. He's over fifty, and she's in her twenties. They look like father and daughter, not a couple. Ray has all the sophistication and poise of a lifetime lived that someone like Jeremy could never hope to have, yet Ray is emotionally crippled. He tells Mirabelle that he only wants to see her casually, and equates her to more or less as a sex toy for his enjoyment. Mirabelle hears what she wants to in his words, thinking there is a future complete with 2.5 kids running in the yard all wrapped up in a white picket fence. She promptly dumps Jeremy, triggering him to venture out on the road with a band. For those musically savvy readers, the frontman is none other than Mark Kozelek of Red House Painters fame.
As Mirabelle's relationship with Ray attempts to grow, events bring them closer, only to tear them apart. The wounds heal awkwardly, and our attention is constantly fixed on Ray to see if he is going to break her heart or open his eyes to this wonderful creature who has given color to his bland, over priced existence.
Claire Danes certainly deserves acclaim for her work as Mirabelle. In her eyes and the subtlety of her body movements, she captures the uncertainty, joy and pain Ray's actions inflict on her shifting self-esteem. Mirabelle is truly Angela Chase ten year later; still awkward in her own skin and still looking for fulfillment in the eyes of Jordan Catalano instead of her own. Jason Schwartzman is also a scene-stealer as the clueless Jeremy who undergoes a transformation all his own to become a man Mirabelle could love and be able to return that love tenfold.
While this is a quaint story, I often found myself asking what is the point? Several scenes were very extraneous and didn't work to advance the plot. Brigette Wilson-Sampras' character was completely pointless and only seemed to contrast her vivacious, confident beauty against Mirabelle's cute uncertainty. The ending leaves you searching for a message or a point to it all. Does Mirabelle truly grow or are her steps forward simply a facade like she creates in her drawings? The writing and direction needed to spend more time fleshing out this side of the character's evolution instead of hoping we will infer it.
Overall, this is Claire Danes' film. She single-handedly transforms this piece into an intriguing watch from material that is fairly forgettable. Her subtle nuisances and sharp wit show that beauty is more than what is painted on the skin, and she makes you want to fall in love with her all over again.
Originally Posted: January 15, 2006
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