Shopgirl (2005)

I went into this movie mostly blind. It came out over ten years ago, and I vaguely remember hearing good things about it, but it fell off my list until I just happened upon it on TV. The stars interested me, but other than that I had no expectations. Sometimes going into a movie completely fresh is the perfect way to go.

Mirabelle Buttersfield (Claire Danes) is a bored girl, working at the glove counter of Saks Fifth Avenue in Los Angeles. She moved from Vermont to live in the glamour of Hollywood, but hasn't achieved it. She meets Jeremy (Jason Schwartzman), a grungy broke burnout. She decides to take a chance on him, regrets it, and almost immediately is picked up by Ray Porter (Steve Martin). Ray is the anti-Jeremy; he's charming, he's smart, he's rich. Jeremy leaves to tour with a low-level band, but continues to pursue Mirabelle long-distance, while she falls more and more for Ray.

The story itself was somewhat typical, I've seen the messy love triangle before. I've seen the "upper class guy charms the small-town girl" before, I've seen the "grungy guy tries to compete with charming guy" before. Despite going down well-traveled roads, the characters themselves were appealing enough to keep me interested.

Something about the visuals hooked me and completely won me over. The beginning had a fairy tale feeling, like a idealized reality. The music, the camerawork, it just lent itself to a sort of realistic fantasy. I also had an odd thought at various times, that the movie could have been done without dialogue. The cinematography, shot selection, and editing were done so well in parts that the visuals told the entire story.

I do enjoy love stories that don't have a happy ending. Without spoiling things, a few events made me raise an eyebrow, and we're not given an ending wrapped in a nice little package. Real life doesn't wrap up nicely, and this reflects real life. In the end I was pleasantly surprised, and this was definitely an enjoyable experience.