Shopgirl

Written by Steve Martin, this movie's opening scenes are such a real portrayal of what dating feels like nowadays. Mirabel (Claire Danes) works at Saks and meets a scruffy artist (Jason Schwartzman). at the laundromat. They have the most awkward and spark-free courtship that only continues because she hears a radio doctor claiming that women scientifically need to be held, even if it's by someone they don't like. Jeremy's a likeable enough guy, but on their first date, he takes her to a "citywalk" to sit and watch people go by (because movies cost $10) and when she tells him he looks nice, says yeah, thanks. At the end of the evening he says, "congratulations, you've now been on a date with Jeremy" and yells "can I kiss you or what?" and offers to give her his number. She throws it out, but a few weeks later decides to dig his number out of the trash and calls him to fulfill her scientific need to "be held."

The next day she meets Ray Porter (Steve Martin) at work, and he's everything Jeremy is not--well-dressed, distinguished, clean, polite, charming, thoughtful, clean, take-charge, clean. She now has a choice between way-less-than-ideal and ideal, but of course "ideal" always seem to threaten disappointment. He is a "symbolic logician," wealthy from computers, the opposite of Jeremy. She's admitted early on that she's a terrible judge of character. One suspects that neither Ray nor Jeremy will give meaning to Mirabel's life or serve as her escape. The essential similarity between the two men is highlighted in parallel scenes of them eating takeout Chinese and watching sports alone in their respective kitchens. Jeremy is not the only one she is using--she's using them for different things, but Ray being more ideal doesn't make him or the situation more right for her. Also, in some ways, Jeremy is superior to Ray. Both men travel for work--Jeremy as a humble roadie, Ray to black tie events, but Jeremy uses the time to listen to relationship and yoga tapes with the band he works for, while Ray uses travel as an excuse to not commit to her.

Martin's story unexpectedly focuses on the loneliness and boredom of Mirabel and is subtly and intelligently funny. Even though I didn't hear much about it when it was released (2005), I'm glad I picked it up. It is actually worth seeing for Mirabel's clothes alone and for the entire visual atmosphere. What really makes it a great film is the random, strange scenes and characters that strike you as completely real if you have ever had a sense of how strange life and relationships are.