Shopgirl

Post by **Lunkhead** » Mon May 22, 2006 5:23 pm

Erin and I watched this last night, and were pretty disappointed. We both usually like Jason Schwarzman, Claire Danes can be good, and Steve Martin can still occasionally not suck completely these days. When I heard about this, though, I thought it was kinda creepy that he was adapting his own story about an older guy and a younger girl then casting himself as the older guy, -and- directing it. I think consequently it degenerated into a Steve Martin wank-fest. He wasn't that great as Ray. The direction wasn't that great. In particular I thought all the dark "gritty" interior shots looked like crap. And for some reason he changed his own story pretty significantly, although it's been quite a few years since I read the novella so maybe I'm just not remembering it correctly. In the movie the characters seemed a lot more desparate, and less sympathetic, and the events seem more arbitrary. Also, what was with the 3-4 voiceovers of Steve Martin reading his own book in an overly weighty tone? I'm sorry Steve but your novella was not that amazing to begin with. Anyway, not even seeing Claire's bum could make this that enjoyable for me. C- (Novella: B)

Post by jb » Mon May 22, 2006 10:35 pm

I loved it. A+

king_arthur · Post by **king_arthur** » Fri Jun 09, 2006 10:26 am

I really liked it, except for the parts that I identified with a little too closely.

Steve Martin didn't direct, unless "Anand Tucker" is a pseudonym. But he did write, adapt, star, and produce. IMDB says he was originally considering Tom Hanks to star... thank you to the movie gods for not letting THAT happen... I'm not a big Steve Martin fan, but for this part, I think he really was the right person.

Charles (KA)

Post by **Lunkhead** » Fri Jun 09, 2006 4:59 pm

It does look like Steve Martin was not the director. Whoops!

Middlemarch · Post by **Middlemarch** » Mon Jun 12, 2006 7:12 pm

Claire Danes shows her bum?!?! I wasn't going to rent it, but...