Shopgirl
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Shopgirl is a 2005 film starring Steve Martin, Claire Danes and Jason Schwartzman. It is based on the 2001 novella of the same name. Both the novella and the screenplay were written by Steve Martin. The film was released in the United States on October 21 2005. The DVD was released April 25, 2006.
Plot
In 2003, Mirabelle Buttersfield (Claire Danes) is an aspiring artist from Vermont who works at the evening gloves counter at Saks Fifth Avenue, Beverly Hills. Her quiet, orderly existence filled with both the mundane – futon furniture and an aging pickup truck – and the serious – a large student loan and a supply of antidepressants – is disrupted by the sudden appearance of two disparate men.
Jeremy (Jason Schwartzman) is an immature, socially inept, penniless graphic designer for an amplifier manufacturer and an aspiring typographer who meets Mirabelle in a laundromat. Mirabelle, aching for meaningful contact, gives Jeremy a chance but it quickly fizzles after a halfhearted date, followed by a woefully underwhelming sexual encounter.
Ray Porter (Steve Martin) is an older, suave, wealthy, divorced logician who charms Mirabelle over several dates, one of which ends at his house. Mirabelle offers herself to him, and the morning after they have sex, Ray tells her that he does not intend for their relationship to be serious due to his constant travel between L.A. and Seattle. Each has a different understanding of this talk: Ray tells his psychiatrist that Mirabelle knows he will see other people, and Mirabelle tells her acquaintances that Ray wants to see her more.
Mirabelle and Ray embark on a lengthy affair, while Jeremy attempts to have one last liaison with Mirabelle before leaving as a roadie for the band Hot Tears, but she spurns him due to her relationship with Ray. While on tour, the band's lead singer introduces Jeremy to the world of self-improvement and how to better relate to the opposite sex. Mirabelle becomes increasingly devoted to Ray, who showers her with expensive gifts, such as paying off her student loans, instead of emotional affection. When Mirabelle's depression hits hard, as she has ceased taking her antidepressants because Ray makes her happy, he takes her to the doctor and cares for her, further deepening her reliance on him. Ray invites Mirabelle on a trip to New York, and has her fitted in the dress shop at Armani.
During a business trip, Ray has dinner with an old girlfriend who propositions him and he accepts, confessing the liaison to Mirabelle. Devastated, Mirabelle ends the relationship, abandons her trip to New York, and visits Vermont instead. While she basks in the warmth and familiarity of home, Ray calls to apologize for hurting her and asks her to meet him in New York. There, he takes her to a large party where she is the youngest guest and feels alone and out of place. At the hotel room, Ray wants to be intimate but Mirabelle rejects him.
Returning to California, Mirabelle encounters Jeremy on the way to an art show, and they arrive together. Her coworker Lisa, suspicious of Mirabelle’s new clothes, mistakes Jeremy for Ray, and Jeremy's self-improvement is obvious to everyone but Mirabelle. Lisa seduces Jeremy as they go back to her place and have sex. Mirabelle goes home with Ray. In the morning, Ray devastates Mirabelle by announcing his plans to find a bigger house in case he meets someone and decides to have kids. Jeremy calls Lisa, but learns she has no interest in anything but Ray Porter and his money.
Mirabelle permanently ends her relationship with Ray and, after a brief period of mourning, quits her job at Saks to become a receptionist in an art gallery. Jeremy pursues her again, properly, and they fall in love. Mirabelle is invited to show her work at the gallery, and Ray attends the opening with his new girlfriend, a gynecologist. Jeremy is clearly proud of Mirabelle, and their relationship is in stark contrast to Ray and Mirabelle, whose conversation is full of recognition yet noticeably strained. Ray apologizes for how deeply he hurt her and admits that he did love her and Mirabelle is visibly touched by his admission, and runs lovingly into Jeremy's arms. Watching the healthy, openly loving couple, Ray remarks that he feels a loss even though he had kept Mirabelle "at arm's length" to avoid the pain of their inevitable breakup.
