Shopgirl
Buena Vista Pictures | Release Date: October 21, 2005 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
62
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 37 Critic Reviews
Positive:
24
Mixed:
11
Negative:
2
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
A film of wisdom, emotional subtlety and power. Read full review
88
Philadelphia InquirerSteven 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. Read full review
88
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
A tender and perceptive film. Read full review
88
New York PostKyle 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. Read full review
80
The New York TimesA.O. Scott
Elegant and exquisitely tailored. Read full review
80
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
This is a special film whose delicate tone ranges from tender to astringent, with occasional side trips into sweet.
78
Austin ChronicleMarjorie Baumgarten
Without the luminous Danes in the title role, Shopgirl would have the flair of an ordinary sales clerk. Read full review
75
PremierePeter 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. Read full review
75
Baltimore SunChris Kaltenbach
Martin's script offers plenty of opportunities, but Martin the actor never takes advantage of them. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames 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. Read full review
75
Rolling StonePeter 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. Read full review
75
Christian Science MonitorPeter Rainer
Whether intentionally or not, Martin has given us something truly spooky: A full-fledged portrait of a hollow man. Read full review
70
NewsweekDavid Ansen
It's a minimalist almost-love story told with epic flourishes. Read full review
70
The New RepublicStanley 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. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterMichael 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. Read full review
70
New York Magazine (Vulture)Ken Tucker
Danes gives a marvelously quiet, poignant performance. Read full review
70
The A.V. ClubNathan 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. Read full review
70
L.A. WeeklyMark 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. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesCarina Chocano
It's smart, spare, elegant and understated. Read full review
67
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
It's a movie, finally, that feels longer than its exquisitely brief source material, which is a crime of sorts. Read full review
67
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
In their way, Mirabelle and Ray are the deracinated West Coast equivalents of a Woody Allen couple. Read full review
63
Chicago TribuneMichael 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. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeTy Burr
Still manages to be a Steve Martin vanity project in ways that are fairly creepy. Read full review
63
USA TodaySusan 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. Read full review
60
Dallas ObserverMelissa 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? Read full review
60
EmpireCaroline 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. Read full review
60
VarietyJoe 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. Read full review
60
Village VoiceJessica Winter
Unfolds as a series of slightly disjointed vignettes, padded with redundant voiceover and an oppressively histrionic score. Read full review
58
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam 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. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam Lacey
A glum meditation on isolation and romantic malaise. Read full review
50
Washington PostStephen Hunter
You keep expecting Shopgirl to get funny or sad or poignant; it never does. It just starts, then it's over. Read full review
50
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
Where the book was preciously and carefully crafted, the movie just feels precious. Read full review
50
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
Danes' smart, fun, radiant and very attractive Mirabelle actually undermines the premise of the book Read full review
40
SlateDavid 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. Read full review
40
Chicago ReaderMeredith Brody
A romantic comedy with precious little romance and even less comedy. Read full review
38
TV Guide MagazineMaitland 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. Read full review
30
SalonAndrew 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. Read full review
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