Shopgirl

Why is it that only so called artsy films accurately portray the spaces between people? They effortlessly illustrate the awkwardness of first acquaintance and the alienation that so many of us feel at numerous points in our lives. In the Hollywood world everyone makes witty banter on their first meeting, everyone comes up with the perfect retort, and sex is never messy or awkward even if it is the first time for two complete strangers. This is the world that Shopgirl dispenses with from its pointless jobs to its painful first dates. This is world where men and women seek companionship but are more like two moored boats knocking against each other than two fluent adults interacting.

Based on Steve Martin’s book, Shopgirl is an intense look at one girl and the love, or lack thereof, in her life. Mirabelle Buttersfield is the girl, played by the lovely though presumably plain Clair Danes in one of her most mature and vulnerable roles. Mirabelle has moved to Los Angeles from Vermont for no particular reason and is living no particular kind of life. She works in the glove department of Sax Fifth Avenue, lives in a little apartment where you can hear the helicopters, and does occasional artistic photography and charcoals.

Into her life comes Jeremy, played by a scruffy Jason Schwartzman, a hopelessly unsocial worker in a band equipment store. He specializes in selling amps and in designing fonts which he regularly draws all over himself. Jeremy does the annoying, awkward things that make first dates a nightmare; like not holding doors, driving a car that is ever in danger of stalling, borrowing money to pay for basic things, not complementing his date’s attire, and saying inappropriate and uncomfortable things. Despite all of that Mirabelle agrees to see him because she is so lonely and wants to feel the comfort and attachment of a close relationship.

Anyone who thinks dating and first dates are wonderful should simply stop watching romantic films get out of their comfortable house and go on a date. Dating is like going on a job interview, only with more intense scrutiny. The film shows that, and even enhances it, with a rather unnecessary voiceover by Steve Martin. Of course the voiceover can be somewhat excused as it is explained as an ‘omniscient narrator’ drawing attention to the important points of an important life the first time we hear it. But really the voiceover just serves to pull the audience out of the story. Perhaps it attempts to add the depth and pathos of the book, but it does not succeed.

Steve Martin is the heart and soul of this film. Not only did he write the story and adapt it but he also produced the film and stars in it. Steve Martin has already shown a flair not only for in-your-face comedy lie The Jerk or Cheaper By The Dozen but for more cutting humor like LA Story and most especially Bowfinger. Here Martin has the kid gloves on, the humor is there, but it is buried in how pathetic these people are and how their poor lives are a joke. Martin provides a better glimpse of LA than any writer I have seen which is surprising since most of them live in LA. The helicopters for instance near Mirabelle’s apartment and the ridiculous steps show that her neighborhood isn’t the best. If you can hear the choppers every night you probably don’t want to venture out in the dark. There is also the personal desperation. There are the shopgirls like Bridgette Wilson’s Lisa whose aim is to charm the customers into her own sugar daddy. There are the undiscovered artists like Mirabelle living a shell of an existence until they get their chance. And in LA, as anywhere, there are lonely people looking for someone else who can complete them.

Here Martin seems to be following the Bill Murray method of hangdog pouting to portray intensity. I think Martin may have more range of emotion in his dour expression, but it is a tossup. Of course Martin tends to play other kinds of characters as well so he is entitled to sulk through a picture or two. Here he plays Ray Porter a man self-described as over fifty, divorced, two houses, with wealth from technology in Seattle. Why and how Ray finds Mirabelle and is drawn to her is a question asked by the narrator but never answered. He and Mirabelle begin an awkward dance around each other sizing each other up for their potential and their motives. Ray defines the rules after their first night together. He wants a no strings attached sort of relationship. He isn’t looking for anything serious or permanent and he feels that he is being honorable in saying this upfront at the beginning of the relationship. The problem of course is that feelings become involved and people get hurt regardless of the best of intentions setting out.

As their relationship becomes more intimate Mirabelle and Ray learn the frailties of each other but they are not truly able to comfort or coexist because they are holding themselves back. Ray has imposed these distant rules on the relationship and so Mirabelle is trapped wanting a real relationship but unable to connect with a lover who does not want intimacy.

Woven throughout this is the story of Jeremy who gains motivation from his brief relationship with Mirabelle and heads out on the road with a band for a year. It helps to lighten the mood for the film to go back to Jeremy who is listening to meditation and self-help tapes on the road. In fact it is a fairly good film for portraying the spaces not only between people but between gigs, and the lengths that people will go through to fill in the gaps.

The ending is a bit forced pat but one gets the feeling that with such a serious subject as the failure of a relationship that the filmmakers, and especially Steve Martin, want there to be redeeming and even uplifting parts to the film. Of course that is less like real life, but it is still closer than the normal glossy fluff.

Shopgirl is not a large film. It is a melancholy study of intimacy and love and of what people are willing to go through, and to put up with, for a sense of feeling wanted and close and loved. This is a fine film that will probably be brought up again come awards time. Clair Danes gives a magnificent performance and the fragile Mirabelle who we know early on will have her heart broken. Her forthright attitude and her strength when she sees what needs to be done are surprising but the revelation flows from the character with ease. Just as I can’t see Bill Murray winning an award for his laconic characters I can’t see Martin, or Schwartzman for that matter, competing in what is sure to be a crowded acting race. But I can easily see Shopgirl winning awards for its writing. As with many films in years past a writing award may be the kiss of death for any other awards but it will be well deserved nonetheless. I recommend Shopgirl for one of those quieter days when you are willing to curl up with your reflections on these characters and about love in your own life that may not have been fulfilling.