(M) Shopgirl / Grade: will be determined as I flush it out, grade will be at the end.

Alright, so I saw Shopgirl last night. First, I guess I'll go with a likes/dislikes.

To start, I liked the shots of LA from the mountains and desert and the vastness of the sky. It made me think of how we're really surrounded by this open space and LA actually can look pretty from a distance (or an eye-sore, depending I guess). I thought it was a nice contrast to the hustle and bustle / me-oriented people who make-up the clientel of a place like Saks Fifth Avenue and Los Angeles in general.

Jason Schwartzman - now this guy was hilarious and he had to have ad libed because Steve Martin would not have written the things this guy said (and in fact, didn't in the novella). I could watch the beginning of this movie over and over and over and over just for his character. He gets an A+.

Steve Martin - Not impressed on one level but his character seemed fitting for me since he was playing an emotionally distant person, and that's what came off. Some may say his character was too flat... but, that's how emotionally distant people seem. They seem... sorta flat because they are afraid to invest in others and when they do, it's still reserved, so I think he did fine as that role.

Claire Daines - She was fine for the role. The crying scene was AWFUL though. Outside of that I bought her as her character.

Voice Over - AWFUL. I mentioned this before how internal adaptation movies need to rely on voice-over (which they did in this one, but sparingly at least). None the less, I hated that Steve Martin was the voice over for what Claire Danes was feeling. Claire Danes should have done the voice over for what she was feeling or they should have had some outside person who is not a part of the movie do the voice-over.

Adaptation from Novella to Screen - Not bad, but not sufficient. It's interesting because in the book, it's the end that made it mean more to mean whereas in the movie it was the beginning that was most enjoyable for me. The break-up in the book was somewhat emotional for me whereas in the movie, when they split I wasn't sad, but then the talk outside the Art Gallery is where it hit me in the movie. Also, reading about the older man with the younger woman in the book is easier to take than seeing it on screen for me.

Overall - So I guess I have to look at the movie this way, what stands out to me is Jason Schwartzman. However, the movie wasn't about him, it was about Claire Danes. So, if I walk away with my fondness for the movie being for somebody that it's not about, then perhaps the movie wasn't as effective for me. But with the book, I was able to reflect on the main character which is how I think it should be so I will have to give the novella more credit than the movie.

Rating - I don't use the rating system here such as A = full price ticket, B = Matinee, C = Rental, etc. I was treated to this movie, but I would still have gladly paid full price to see it and I'd pay full price to see it again, though that doesn't mean I'd give it an A. For me, I'd buy anything I give an A. (Speaking of the rating system, New Wave... if we talk about things other than movies, how come the rating system is based on a movie watching experience?). It's not an A for me but I feel like it's better than a C, but for not delivering what it should, for me, (reflection of the main character not a supporting one) I feel it'd be wrong to give it a B. I will go with somewhere between a B and a C though when it comes down to it I will just say it's a B.

End Result Grade = B