Shopgirl

San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle

A film of wisdom, emotional subtlety and power.

Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea

A quiet, glistening love story - or not-quite-love story - adapted from Martin's novella of the same name, Shopgirl is such an atypical Hollywood affair that it's almost startling.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

A tender and perceptive film.

New York Post Kyle Smith

Like Truffaut's heaviest work, it's less interested in what brings people together than in what keeps them apart, and it achieves a painful truth you won't find in dating comedies.

The New York Times A.O. Scott

Elegant and exquisitely tailored.

Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern

This is a special film whose delicate tone ranges from tender to astringent, with occasional side trips into sweet.

Austin Chronicle Marjorie Baumgarten

Without the luminous Danes in the title role, Shopgirl would have the flair of an ordinary sales clerk.

Baltimore Sun Chris Kaltenbach

Martin's script offers plenty of opportunities, but Martin the actor never takes advantage of them.

Premiere Peter Debruge

Where "Elizabethtown" pretends to have the meaning of life, Shopgirl hones in on a few telling details, then allows audiences to fill in the rest.

ReelViews James Berardinelli

This is a smart, adult romance that rarely panders to clichés, and gives up the heady bliss of most such movies in favor of something bittersweet.

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

Even the film's missteps (the score, by Barrington Pheloung, is cringe-inducing) can't stop this meditation on love -- Martin calls it "Jane Austen for the twenty-first century" -- from melting into heartbreak.

Christian Science Monitor Peter Rainer

Whether intentionally or not, Martin has given us something truly spooky: A full-fledged portrait of a hollow man.

New York Magazine Ken Tucker

Danes gives a marvelously quiet, poignant performance.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Nathan Rabin

"Hilary And Jackie" director Anand Tucker establishes and maintains an appropriately delicate tone, apart from the presence of cartoonish, jarring man-eater Bridgette Wilson, who seems to have wandered in from a much cruder comedy.

The Hollywood Reporter Michael Rechtshaffen

Displaying some fine performances -- including a lovely one by Claire Danes and a lively one by Jason Schwartzman -- the elegantly appointed Shopgirl certainly has the goods but it ultimately fails to make the sale.

Los Angeles Times Carina Chocano

It's smart, spare, elegant and understated.

The New Republic Stanley Kauffmann

But the best of the story is that there isn't much--as such. A slice of living is put before us. Some things happen. That's all.

LA Weekly Mark Olsen

There's something refreshing about a film set in Los Angeles that gets its L.A.-ness right -- the difference in vibe between Silver Lake and the Hollywood Hills, or the types of people at CityWalk versus Saks. It is that sense of specificity, both geographic and emotional, that gives Shopgirl its pull.

Newsweek David Ansen

It's a minimalist almost-love story told with epic flourishes.

Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy

It's a movie, finally, that feels longer than its exquisitely brief source material, which is a crime of sorts.

Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

In their way, Mirabelle and Ray are the deracinated West Coast equivalents of a Woody Allen couple.

USA Today Susan Wloszczyna

The film ultimately lets Mirabelle down and leaves the viewer dissatisfied. A "Lost in Translation" drained of its wryly observed humor, Shopgirl is worth a browse. But it isn't always easy to buy.

Boston Globe Ty Burr

Still manages to be a Steve Martin vanity project in ways that are fairly creepy.

Chicago Tribune Michael Phillips

On the page Shopgirl was a small but fine Chekhovian thing, coasting along on Martin's omniscient narration and witty prose...The movie version locates roughly half of what worked in the novella.

Empire Caroline Westbrook

It's enjoyable and visually impressive, but this is a slender trifle of a film, one which charms you as you're watching it and then is all too quickly forgotten.

Dallas Observer Melissa Levine

One of the most schizoid films in recent memory. It opens with crystalline originality, a shimmering comedy with meticulous timing and sharply drawn characters. Then it careens carelessly into syrup. How could he (Martin) not have noticed?

Variety Joe Leydon

Martin hits all the right notes while subtly conveying both the appealing sophistication and the purposeful reserve of Ray. But he cannot entirely avoid being overshadowed by Dane's endearingly vulnerable, emotionally multifaceted and fearlessly open performance.

Village Voice Jessica Winter

Unfolds as a series of slightly disjointed vignettes, padded with redundant voiceover and an oppressively histrionic score.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold

Without the saving grace of comedy, Martin's natural abrasiveness is off-putting, and he just doesn't have the stuff of a romantic lead.

Washington Post Stephen Hunter

You keep expecting Shopgirl to get funny or sad or poignant; it never does. It just starts, then it's over.

Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez

Where the book was preciously and carefully crafted, the movie just feels precious.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Liam Lacey

A glum meditation on isolation and romantic malaise.

New York Daily News Jack Mathews

Danes' smart, fun, radiant and very attractive Mirabelle actually undermines the premise of the book

Slate David Edelstein

In any case, the best performance is by Bridgette Wilson-Sampras as the conniving but peppy slut at the perfume counter. Her big scene--farcical, filthy, surprising--is also the best in the movie. Otherwise, Shopgirl is sadly vacuous, with a sadly vacuous center.

Chicago Reader Meredith Brody

A romantic comedy with precious little romance and even less comedy.

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

The willowy Danes' rich, melancholy characterization is sown in a barren field of snippy attitude and too-cool posturing, and the film's disingenuous air of bittersweet chic becomes deeply tiresome long before it's over.

Salon.com Andrew O'Hehir

There's so little sexual chemistry between the actors in this film that it seems like a kind of accomplishment. I've seen shows on C-SPAN that were hotter than this.