Yesterday was a wonderfully lazy day, and one to curl up and watch a good movie. That was Shopgirl, based on a novella and starring author Steve Martin. Claire Danes is Miribelle, a girl from Vermont who works at Saks in Beverly Hills, and meets two men. The first is Jeremy, a disorganized lovable loser who has big dreams, no class, no money and a car full of junk. Their first date was symbolized by his asking her if she had two bucks to pay for the movie tickets.
Then there was Ray, the resplendent Martin, who swoops in and does it all right. The tasteful gift sent to her house, the dinner invitation to a swank Beverly Hills restaurant, the “plane food,” which he clarifies, as ‘private plane food,’ and the stunning house in the hills with a glittering pool.
Yet Ray can’t give our Miribelle much more than lavish gifts; his heart is detached, he tells his therapist how he doesn’t really think this is more than a fling. But like any woman, Miribelle wants more than his wallet, she wants his heart. And hers is soon to be broken.
In the background, Jeremy is on the road with a band, getting wiser, and learning more and more. We watch him re-emerge at the film’s poignant end, a testament to determination, and to believing. He tells her he’ll protect her, he wraps his arms around her, and you can see that he’s giving her all he’s got, unlike Ray who can’t commit and holds back, and is ambiguous. You see how powerful it is when you get what you give, and Miribelle and Jeremy gloriously share honest and caring love. Despite his sloppiness and other faults, he deserves this beautiful woman and she gives it all to him.
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