Steve Martin’s film career is full of hits and misses. On one hand you get “The Jerk” and on the other hand you get “Bowfinger.” We have to put “Shopgirl” in Column B, I’m afraid. An oddly dismal adaptation of Martin’s novel by the same name, “Shopgirl” is a meaningless, passionless tale of three people in a meaningless, passionless love triangle. But the film’s real sin is the hokey voice-over.
I know that Steve Martin wrote the book, but it still makes no sense that a character in the film should narrate it referring to himself in third person. And it’s not as if we don’t recognize his voice. Also, the film uses the voice-over, as is so often the case, as a crutch, filling in the blanks where characterization failed. There are a lot of those in this movie, so Martin is quite busy, informing us with his purple prose what he and Claire Danes are feeling rather than showing us.
The story Martin tells us is of a pretty, artistic and lonely young lady working in a department store in Los Angeles. She has no friends that we can see until she meets a randomly quirky young guy (Jason Schwartzman) and a wealthy older guy (Steve Martin.) Schwartzman is kind of funny as an inconsiderate-if-sincere loser and that’s about the film’s only pleasure. And he’s barely in it.
Most of the time is spent exploring whether Danes and Martin have a real relationship or just a convenient sexual one. Their muted, inexpressive performances and the meandering pace of the movie make this question hardly a dire one. Martin’s character is cold and boring and all we know about Danes is that she wears vintage clothing and very rarely does a drawing.
I think maybe the filmmakers were going for a bittersweet, moody “Lost in Translation” feeling. However, where that movie struck all the right notes, this one failed. Lacking in action and emotion, “Shopgirl” was disappointingly dull.
“Shopgirl” is currently available to rent.
Another book translated to the big screen, “Jarhead” is the timely story of a young marine during the first Gulf War. Also timely in its casting of “Brokeback Mountain” star Jake Gyllenhaal, it follows him from his intense boot camp training to a war where he never got a chance to use it. A terrific ensemble cast round this out to an intense and fascinating look at one man’s experience in the military.
Above all, the feelings the men in this movie have are provocative- their disappointment in not being able to kill the enemy they have been encouraged to despise, the brutal dehumanizing affects of their situation which strikes them as increasingly meaningless. The performances do these concepts justice. Peter Sarsgaard is present as Gyllenhaal’s closest friend and Jamie Foxx gives another impressive performance as their staff sergeant, seemingly the only man left who believes in what they are doing.
Fortunately, while this movie certainly makes you think about our current situation in Iraq, the ideas explored are highly personal, rather than politicized. It is not an anti-war movie, but an offbeat look at the complex human side of the military. The difference between the marines’ expectations and their reality is unforgettably shown in this movie. Gyllenhaal is a very appealing, compelling actor and you cannot help but feel things with him. “Jarhead” is kind of a male-bonding, buddy movie set against a very thought-provoking journey to nowhere.
“Jarhead” is currently available to rent.
Contact Asia Frey at afrey@lagniappemobile.com.
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