Parents' Guide to

Shopgirl

By Cynthia Fuchs, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 17+

Stylish romantic comedy best for older teens.

Movie R 2005 104 minutes
Shopgirl Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Community Reviews

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age 17+

Based on 3 parent reviews

vstearns
vstearns Adult
April 15, 2012
age 18+

My personal review of Shopgirl-

I thought it would be a good movie, but looks can be very deceiving. It just was too dramatic with all of the ways they portrayed the girl. Claire Danes did a fabulous job with what she had to work with in this piece. She is really a very good actress, but Steve Martins' part was misleading in todays world. Sure, that's what every woman would want, or is it? Since Steve martin wrote the screenplay, it's only fitting that he should get the blame for this horribly played out movie. Not only is it chauvinistic to the nth degree, but his haughtiness toward her supposedly mundane life is appalling. It teaches girls what our mothers taught us; to find a rich man and all will be well, and as all older women know, this is not normally the case. It really isn't a well thought out movie for today's teenager. It is condescending, on all fronts, to todays woman. It is repetitive in nature until the very end, when it tries to redeem all of these terrible affronts to this girls psyche. Not a good value movie at all, and frankly not a good movie for anyone, except possibly a woman in 1950.
Beckstar
Beckstar Adult
October 29, 2011
age 18+

not for kids

HEAPS of sex scenes in this film. One scene shows the woman completely naked on the bed from behind. I would not even let anyone under even the age of 16 watch this

This title has:

Too much sex
See all 3 parent reviews

What's the Story?

When Mirabelle Buttersfield (Claire Danes), a sales clerk by day and artist by night, meets Jeremy (Jason Schwartzman) -- unshaved and wearing a torn t-shirt, clever and endearingly clumsy in his efforts to impress her -- she's less than thrilled by his distractedness (he's also an artist, a designer of fonts and advertising logos). Within days, she's approached at work by the impeccably groomed and designer-suited Ray (Steve Martin). Their dates are more formal, and she's aware that he maintains an emotional distance. Still, Mirabelle rejects Jeremy in favor of Ray, and the younger man takes off on a road trip with a rock band, along the way coming to understand how he didn't treat Mirabelle with the proper respect and interest. At the same time, Ray repeatedly disappoints Mirabelle, by spending days in Seattle, where he has a second, equally expensively-outfitted home, and by cheating on her with a former girlfriend (Rebecca Pidgeon).

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (3):
Kids say (3):

Meticulously crafted, Anand Tucker's SHOPGIRL is not so overtly emotionally adventurous as his previous movie Hilary and Jackie (1998). But it is similarly interested in the built-in deceptions of romance and the cruelties of self-protective decisions. Though Mirabelle briefly envies the seeming wisdom and cynicism of fellow shopgirl and more experienced dater Lisa (Bridgette Wilson-Sampras), she soon realizes that her own sensitivities -- even her artistic sensibilities -- are more valuable.

At least, this is the film's judgment. And this is the most troubling aspect of the film. For all its seeming delicacy, its view of Mirabelle as perfect, precious object is decidedly limited. Though Danes is a lovely, subtle performer, and Peter J. Suschitzky's camera showcases her unusual beauty, the film never grants Mirabelle her own life: she remains a child-woman in search of a male redeemer. Her men are manifestly imperfect and yet, as happens too often, their versions of her define her desires.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about Mirabelle's yearning for romance, as this stems from her own family's emotional reserve (pictured when she goes home for a visit and attributed to her father's status as a Vietnam war veteran). How is Mirabelle's choice -- between the older, wealthy Ray, and the scruffy, awkward Jeremy -- limiting, as she's beheld and desired by two men, like a fine object?

Movie Details

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