Here's my review from the Cinemania forum:

I caught Shopgirl tonight, and quite enjoyed it as a slice of life. It rings true as one particular example of the untidiness of life and love for both the logician and the shopgirl. That said, it is a brittle kind of production, that needs to be handled with care, if one is to enjoy the experience without breaking the mood...

4 out of 5.

(Note: I'm definitely old school and bridled at a Eagle's comment made in another thread that Steve Martin is the poor man's Bill Murray! Yow!!! It's surely just the opposite.)

B+, saw this a week ago. Some mixed feelings about certain aspects, but overall pretty positive on most of it. The movie is shot and told in a very fresh manner that is different from other romantic comedies. And I can relate to all 3 of the primary characters from different experiences in my life, perhaps the Steve Martin character the most right now. The narration that pops out of nowhere from time to time is pretty awful and distracts from the film. A couple scenes were very beautiful, even if it comes off as unintentional humor to most of the audience due to the lack of build up to the moments. The accidental blurting out scene did not feel very genuinely true to life, and that detracts from the overall effectiveness of the movie.

Entertaining and sometimes poignant romantic comedy with imminently likeable and relatable characters. The mix of drama and low-key humor works very well. Basically the only element that didn't work for me with Martin's narration. It always seemed out of place but I digress. The film is still very good (Danes deserves consideration for an acting nod as she was great here) and one of my favorites thus far this year. This is the film 'Lost in Translation' should have been and more. See it ASAP.

4.5/5

Man, I wish everytime I met and brokeup with someone, my 40,000 in student loans got paid off. Would make the parting oh so much easier.

Weak movie, predictable, and not all that insightful. Makes LiT seem profound in some regards.

guess the above tells us how the movie goes.

Well, this is the reviews and spoilers forum.

Reminds me of a friend freshman year who dove into a half year relationship that involved hours of demanding phonecalls (it was distance) but her bf came up for Valentines day and got her a tv and vcr. When they broke up she was balling, and all of us were like, "Hey, you're 18 and have a tv and vcr now! Sounds good to us!"

no kidding, that is why I didn't complain, I just made a comment. > guess the above tells us how the movie goes.

Yeah. It's pretty predictable. Trinkets or love, guys. I'd dare a director to make a movie where the woman opts for the first one, or realizes neither option is for her, or where the "love" guy doesn't clean up so well and the two are destined for a rough future of marginal employment and living paycheck to paycheck where they become resentful of eachother but still see no alternative.

Its not that Shopgirl was all that bad, it was just too easy, the overlying story arcs are old, and were treated in an uninspired fashion, and the movie itself was fairly monotonous. The acting was decent, and so its hard not to feel a little bit for the characters, but in the end you just walk away with a very typical exploration of finding a partner, and alot of soft shots of Danes face looking forlorn.

I found it to be a lovely little film with subtlety over grandeur, a nice difference when compared to most romantic films created by Hollywood. It is a very faithful adaptation of the great novella it's based on (not surprising since Martin adapted his own material). I really hope Martin adapts and stars in his even better second novel "The Pleasure of My Company." He's perfect for the lead role.

Though he didn't direct it, I don't believe it's too inaccurate to call SHOPGIRL a Steve Martin film. Martin wrote the film, based on his own popular novel, and stars in it too. Set in Los Angeles, the main character's Mirabelle (Claire Danes, TERMINATOR 3: RISE OF THE MACHINES), a reserved East Coast import who moved to LA to start her life as an artist, but has ended up selling expensive gloves and accessories to more successful people in a department store. She's a depressed person with no friends until two men enter her life, men who couldn't be more different from each other. The first (Jason Schwartzman, BEWITCHED) she meets at a coin-op laundromat. He fancies himself a logo designer, but, same as her, hasn't found much success. The second (Martin) is a millionaire who falls for her when he sees her at the store. Mirabelle, before the end of the film, must decide to empower herself and choose between a relationship with a poor, but loving man and a rich man with guarded emotions.

Considering it's fall release, it's not a stretch to imagine Touchstone Pictures is hoping Martin's romantic fable will win awards. The rub is the film's a disappointing effort made by talented people. From top to bottom, SHOPGIRL falls short of success. Martin's script is never sure if it's a lightweigt romance, a piercing examination of modern dating, or an existential dialogue piece. It ends up being all of these and succeeds at being none of them. The other problem with Martin's script is it's fear of becoming over-the-top. The actor-cum-writer seems so terrified of being accused of poisoning a subtle romance with his expected comedic antics, his movie never goes up and down, it just becomes comfortable with one level and refuses to budge for the rest of the feature funning time. Sure, it's never drowned out by silliness, but it also doesn't have much emotional weight.

The performances are solid, but none are too memorable. Claire Danes provides her character with a subtle charm and the actress herself is beautiful, but she never grabs hold of the character and injects it with a certain special something. It's a morose, if gorgeous performance. Schwartzman does his usual, adding a layer of eccentricities to what could've been a flat character. Though he can do the oddball role in his sleep, it's the film's best performances. Martin, though it's nice to see him outside of his usual boundaries, seems asleep as Mirabelle's affluent beau. And I could've done without his narration, which is delivered by Martin as himself, not his character. It's out-of-place and too dense for film narration.

Even the gorgeous direction's flawed, as the film, shot by Peter Suschitzky (A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE), tends to dote on physical objects rather than on the performances. I still don't understand why the film loves to concentrate on the sports cars, the expensive clothes, and the grand houses the character's world is filled with. This movie goes beyond developing the opulent nature of upper-class LA life and instead becomes a dance of grating product placement. If the point was to show love in a modern tech world, it doesn't put the point across well. The music also fails to do so, with the score by Barrington Pheloung (NOSTRADAMUS) overwhelming, not supporting, the images.

I didn't hate this film, despite my long list of reservations. The performances, though bland at times, have great beats, such as the final scene between Martin and Danes. There are some fun sub-plots, such as the one involving an underused Bridgette Wilson-Sampras (EXTREME OPS), in a turned defined by sexiness, as a beautiful manipulator who tries to steal one of Mirabelle's lovers. But other than the few bright spots, it's a misstep. If you want a lightweight romantic celebration, see ELIZABETHTOWN. If you want piercing, see CLOSER. If you want existential, see BEFORE SUNSET. I just can't advise shopping at the mall called SHOPGIRL, it's not too entertaining an experience.

C

Completely agree. It definitely exceeded my expectations, and although that narraration that came in about three times total was pretty awful, I thought it was well done, bolstered by a fine score and performances, and topped out by some magnificent cinematography. Scenes such as her friend mistaking Jeremy for Ray came off as silly, but nevertheless amusing. B+, just don't tell my friends.

Eh... I dunno.

I liked it, but some things were a bit uneven. Claire Danes is great, though.

I'm thinking a B.

For those of you who haven't seen it, now's your chance to rent/blind buy the best film of 2005.

How about a review?

Hmmm...

I coulda sworn I wrote a review at some point.

Oh, well. Yeah, I'll write one. Gimme a little bit, though.

It's the only film from last year that is, in my opinion, virtually flawless. The direction was the best of the year. Nearly perfect. I loved the decision to make the visuals more artistic and surreal than the point-and-shoot we are so used to these days in "romantic comedies". I felt it worked with the plot perfectly to bring the overall feel of the film to a different level. The score was one of the best of the year. Right up there with The New World in terms of power and how it works with the film. The screenplay was the best of the year. So heartbreaking and filled with some many brilliant spots of dialogue that ring more true than anything else found in film in '05. Claire Danes performance, also perfect. The most underrated, underappreciated performance of the year, no doubt. When she is reading Ray's letter... Jesus Christ. Steve Martin and Jason Schwartzman are also terrific, with Martin showing a range I for one never thought he was capable of. I just love, love, love this film. Everything just flows and melds together so effortlessly. I honestly felt as if I was in some kind of trance while I was watching the film. I couldn't take my eyes off the screen, and it was over in what felt like twenty minutes. I really can't recommend this one enough.

A+

Hrm...

It wasn't a spectacular film until the end. Up until then it was rather predictbale and didn't really add anything new to the genre. However I did find interesting the way it seemed to be shot in a very different manner then most romance films, in fact the production and design was almost more romantic and surreal then what would be expected.

The performances are all great, especially Danes, as she gives a truly excellent performance this time around. She shares excellent chemistry with both Martin and Schwartzmann which is also a definate achievement of the film.

The problem though is that it is just too predictable for the most part. There really isn't anything spectacular about it, until the very end. For some reason the last line delivered in the movie is the most powerful of all of them and so perfectly wraps the film up that it gives the entire film a different feel. Not perfect by any stretch but a great movie overall. A-

The scoree.

It was excellent but a bit distracting. And then halway through the movie I wondered if maybe it was done on purpose hehe ?

Overall a very strong film with an EXCELLENT performance Claire Danes.

B+

I didn't think the direction was 100% (narration was a little rough), but I ended up really liking the off-beat whimsy (the cinematography, lighting, storyline, etc.).

It's a shame the film doesn't actually do much with either of Mirabelle's relationships. It doesn't allow time for any of the characters to breathe.

There's so much said in that last scene between Danes and Martin, though. Broke my little heart.

B+

Yeah, that was really what made the movie for me.

This movie had the best ending ever (not ever, but yeah, it was damn good)

Excellent story, i loved every minute of it (except for the narrarations, that sucked), It had great performances especially from Claire Danes. I usually hate slow movies, but damn this one was just great!

A+

A solid-enough movie, but underwhelming. Claire Danes does a nice job, though.

B-