Shopgirl (***)

This compact drama is an adaptation of Steve Martin’s insightful novella. Martin wrote the script and costars as the wealthy suitor of Mirabelle, the title character played by Claire Danes. Danes, looking forlorn and unassuming in some scenes and delicately beautiful in others, is nicely cast. I’m not sure about Martin. He seems a little timid to have made the slick move that gets him his first date with half-his-age Mirabelle. At the same time, it’s interesting that the older man is not simply a predator. Jason Schwartzman is Martin’s awkward romantic rival. With a mole where much of his right cheek should be, he’s not my idea of a romantic lead, but I have to admit he made me laugh outright at a character that was merely amusing on paper. Martin the screenwriter only partially overcomes the problem that the novella is largely about his characters’ interior lives. The four voiceover segments are both helpful and intrusive. The pace feels sluggish at times. But at its best, Shop Girl retains the spare elegance of its source material.

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circulated via email 11/10/05 and posted 10/9/13