I love this movie so much

What makes it different from others?

Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction

The first must-see film of the year.

Shopgirl is pure patient pleasantry politely presented powerfully picture perfect persisting upon no pressing plot or pace or purpose or prudence as I partly praise it per previously particularized whereupon I primarily praise the pruriently prettily pleasing princess Claire Danes. I love you, Claaaaaaiiiiiirrrrre! I love alliteration but nothing like the way I love Claire Danes and I'll prove it. I resist the urge to tell you Claire's naked butt scene in this is phenomenally poetically primal, I'll just say I love it. Writing is a beautiful thing, and Steve Martin's a beautiful writer, but Claire's the most beautiful, underrated actress ever. Shopgirl is underrated too. I love Claire, she brings out the best in me, but I don't want to talk about me anymore, I want to talk about her. Claire's got a perfect butt and a gorgeous face, but most of all, the most beautiful heart.

This is a bitter sweet look at age and relationships. Every person has to choose between riches and loves at some point. It could be a job you don't want to do but you make more money. A degree. Or a relationship. People don't change and who you choose in your 20's will directly effect your 40's. The upside is you can have a fun life for 20 years before things nose dive & 20 years is pretty cool. Who would you choose? Who are you with now? Love is such an ethereal thing. What is love? What is lust? What are we all doing here anyway? This movie shows you how these things can play out. It has the emotional depth of a Woody Allen movie but simpler and more to the point. I liked it and would watch it again in a few years.

Romantic comedies are difficult to review: it's easier to analyze the story than critique its aesthetic, and one is nearly indistinguishable from the next, with very few exceptions. Case in point: Shopgirl. Surprisingly, despite Steve Martin's trilogy of collaboration to the film, his usual wild-and-crazy-guy comedy is scarce, even more so than his previous "serious" films. This time around, he gives us a collection of characters that are so visceral and relatable, they seem to jump off the screen and into our lives. The result is deep emotional insight into our perspectives of relationships.Steve Martin is Ray Porter, a wealthy older man, charmingly reserved in his demeanor, working as a "symbolic logician" which enables him to calculate any given situation in his mind as mathematical equations. Claire Danes is Mirabelle Buttersfield, the exemplary wonderful yet unlucky young woman desperately anticipating an imminent romantic happening, even so desperate as to sleep with a slacker with a momentary condom predicament. Jason Schwartzman is said slacker, Jeremy, who embodies the typical mid-twenties free spirited fellow, whose lazily good-hearted nature is almost completely hidden by antics of swing-and-miss efforts toward intimacy.After this generously paced trio of introductions, the story unfolds with very real, human moments of emotion and reaction. After the excruciatingly awkward Jeremy, we move onto Mirabelle's next suitor, Ray, and the film takes a much-appreciated sharp turn towards class and moderate sophistication. Ray is charming, articulate, and "after Mirabelle sizes him up, no alarm bells sound." Probably the most important key scene is when Mirabelle is certainly beginning to fall for him. The lead-in shots delineate quite clearly that they are going to have sex. Standard enough, but the scene is anything but. Elegant, artistic, and tasteful, she waits for him on his bed, completely submissive and vulnerable—naked physically and emotionally—she is surrounded by a red wall; the symbolism speaks for itself, in a vibrant, cinematic voice. This moment, with Steve Martin's heart-warming reaction to her and music to match, is as taming and beautiful as a romantic scene can possibly be.It is around this time when we start to see Jeremy's side story cutaways regularly, something the film could easily have done without. The manner in which his character evolves is far from mature or genuine. Reciting lines from dating and self-help books on her voice mail hoping to win her over while sounding like he still hasn't a care in the world? Oh, how cute. What made me cringe is the thought that some girls would probably fall for it.All we really care to follow is what happens between Mirabelle and Ray, their situation constantly growing in complexity as time goes on, due to the fact that Ray has no intention on a serious relationship, whereas Mirabelle obviously appears to have the opposite idea, yet simultaneously seems to be in denial. What adds to the complexity? Ray begins to care about (and for) her. This father figure complex could be too much to handle for most any man.The film progresses characteristically like a relationship: freely moving, unpredictable, with bittersweet heartache and hope together, the occasional bombshell dropped, and a decent amount of uncertainty. Is Ray thinking of her while he's away? Will Mirabelle continue this girlish inclination of unspoken inner thought? And as stated amongst her friends, how will he react if she calls him 'sweetheart'? Also, note the development of aesthetic details. Namely Mirabelle's perspective on things as shown via color schemes, as well as how her clothing, or sometimes lack thereof, reflects her emotional reaction to a given situation. With the last several tear jerking lines, the film is certain to leave the audience with the one prominent lingering thought: Steve Martin is one amazing writer, actor, and it is because of him that this film holds far more currency than the modern chick flick.On the surface, and strictly in words, the above may sound like typical romance movie cheese. However, if you thought When Harry Met Sally was too funny to be taken seriously, or if… well, if most any other romance movie was too painful to swallow its sap, Shopgirl is an ideal film, thoroughly enjoyable, and definitely NOT cheese. I'd love to clearly express this further, but this review's getting long, and I'm no Steve Martin.

Not a bad movie overall. I especially like Clair Danes's character.What irked me is to see, yet again, a flawed, foolish character wearing a cross on a chain around her neck. The Jews who controlled what we saw evidently wanted everyone to know that the nitwit was a Christian and not a Jew.The nitwit was the 'Lisa Kramer' character, played by Bridgette Wilson.If she had been shown with a Star of David around her neck, the screams would have been prodigious, but I am almost certain that I am the only person who has pointed out how insulting that little bit was.And this movie is just one example of an almost universal habit of making sure that unpleasant characters are shown to be from Christian backgrounds.What a pathetic society we have become, to allow such insults to pass by without so much as a peep of complaint.