Christmas afternoon, we ducked out for a matinee showing of Shopgirl, the Steve Martin-Claire Danes film. The theater was small, but it was quite full shortly after 1pm. We weren’t the only ones taking a break from the holidays, or maybe we simply joined those who don’t celebrate this one.
Made from a novella, the movie is also relatively brief. Claire Danes is a lonely 20-something Vermont sometime artist working behind the glove counter at Saks in Los Angeles. Steve Martin is a wealthy elder software businessman, jetting between LA and Seattle. The third corner of the love triangle in this tiny story is a young man who transforms from a bewildered, struggling, emotionally tone-deaf font artist to a self-assured, empathetic boyfriend. Martin is left on the outside at the end.
One scene was vivid for not being in Los Angeles: Danes’ visit to her parents in Vermont. Think every snow, sweater, weatherbeaten-house stereotype come to life, if only for a few minutes of screen time. Such a caricature it had us laughing even after the movie was over.
The mood of Shopgirl felt like LA Story, which was also written by Martin. LA is romanticized, and the voiceover from Martin in Shopgirl is reaching a bit. LA Story was funnier, even in its odd pseudo-mystical moments.
Still the Metacritic score of 62 seems low to me. I’m slightly curious to read Martin’s novella, and I’ll be happy to see other Martin films that are a bit more serious than the Cheaper by the Dozen collection.