Shopgirl (DVD)

I found this film unusual and unsettling at times. The pace of the film was very slow and yet somehow it held my attention. A dark haired Claire Danes plays the part of Mirabelle Buttersfield a young woman who has moved from Vermont to Los Angeles in the hope of making something of her life and possibly with her part time artwork, but in the day she works in Saks on fifth avenue selling very few gloves to very wealthy customers. The story really begins when Marabelle meets Jeremy (Jason Schwartzman) at a dry cleaners and they decide to date but Jeremy has no real romantic tendencies and the relationship between the two seems very awkward and forced. ...  Read the complete review

Shopgirl starring Steve Martin, Claire Danes and Jason Schwartzman is an adaptation of Martin's novella. I couldn't help but find this film a little slow, it takes a good ten minutes before anything is said, and even then its only the voice over by Martin who narrates on and off throughout. But besides the opening it seems as though you are waiting and watching for something to happen. Although this may seem boring, it could have been the intention of director Anand Tucker. You understand then how Danes feels, waiting slowly but surely for someone to notice her. The film follows Danes as she meets and shortly after has uneventful sex with ...  Read the complete review

Shopgirl is a film starring and written by Steve Martin, based on his novella of the same name. The film is set up with a narration by Martin, or his character, Ray Porter. He introduces us in overhead views to the sprawling city of L.A., although it is not named it is pretty recognisable. The character of Mirabelle Buttersfield (played by Claire Danes) is then introduced by the narrator. We learn she is a young woman living alone in L.A., working in the opulent "shop" Saks Fifth Avenue, in the glove dept. She appears quite bored standing there, with little to do. She has artistic aspirations that are a bit halfhearted, as she produces a drawing every six ...  Read the complete review