Based on the novella by Steve Martin
Adapted for the screen by Steve Martin
Directed by Anand Tucker (Hilary and Jackie)

---CAST:
Claire Danes as Mirabelle
Jason Schwartzman as Jeremy
Steve Martin as Ray Porter
Bridgette Wilson-Sampras as Mirabelle’s coworker

We screened Steve Martin’s drama Shopgirl tonight at the AMC. When I was done collecting invitations from the line, I was called upstairs, and I ended up riding the elevator with Mr. Martin. He had a faint John Waters-type mustache, and as he stood outside the special rear entrance to the auditorium, he said he didn’t know the layout of the theater, so I just told him that if he walked down the short hallway and turned left, he’d be at the top of the auditorium.
---The movie was pretty good. A drama about a lonely, depressed girl who works at Saks Fifth Avenue, who hooks up first with a rock star groupie trying to make ends meet played by Jason Schwartzman, and then with an older worldy businessman who cares about her but basically uses her for sex, played by Steve Martin. It seemed realistic, and was at times depressing as you felt for Mirabelle, and Martin’s occasional narration was unnecessary, clumsy and obvious (spelling out what the viewer can already gather from the plot), but it moved briskly and was an entertaining drama. And man is Claire Danes hot. She has such a beautiful face that you could stare at all day.

If you screened this film in June, 2004, how come it wasn't released until October, 2005? (And, it was shot in late '03.)
Mr. Martin probably grew the moustache for his role as Inspector Clouseau in the new version of The Pink Panther. That was supposed to be released in August, '05, but with the purchase of MGM by Sony, it was postponed until Feb. 10, '06.

I believe it was a research screening, not a press screening. Films are in the research stage (in which the audience is given questionnaires regarding their opinion of the film) before they go into the press stage (by which time the film is complete, and thus there are no questionnaires). It's not unusual to have test screenings for films a year (or even years) before they're released. We screened The Hours about a year before it was released. I remember that O, the teen version of Othello with Mekhi Phifer and Julia Stiles, was delayed because of the Columbine Massacrre.

I know that one of the two screenings you attended was the premiere of Enough. What was the other one, Adam?

Actually, I went to two more, but I don't think you were there. I went to see The Stepford Wives in June, 2004, and Sahara last February. There's one this week that I may like to see, but I haven't made up my mind yet.

IIRC, both of those were press screenings, so I don't think you've ever been to a research one.

Was this movie ever released nationwide?

I assume it was. It's still in some theaters, like California, but when I went to Fandango, I couldn't find any theater playing it in Chicago, Houston or Kansas. I'm not sure if that means it's no longer playing there, or what.

Claire Danes...has such a beautiful face that you could stare at all day.
You ain't kidding, especially in her last scene, where she turns her head to the camera. Her performance here is far better than her acting was in Terminator 3. I never did see her in My So-Called Life, even though that series was from Ed Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz, the men who also created thirtysomething and my beloved Once And Again.
The film premiered on Starz tonight. I liked it more than I thought I would. One nitpick (and a mild Spoiler Alert) - Mirabelle takes herself off anti-depressants once she hooks up with Ray. She gets depressed again, but only has to go back to the doctor to start to feel better again. My ex-wife was taking anti-depressants (Paxil, specifically) back in late 1999, and decided to self-medicate by cutting her dosage in half from what the doctor prescribed. Because of that, she crashed, began to have suicidal thoughts, and spent a great deal of time in the hospital getting straightened out. I know medications affect different people differently, but I just thought the film dealt with that issue too softly.
Wouldn't Jason Schwarzman's character be more accurately called a "roadie," not a "groupie?"