Salutations, traveler of The Internets! Welcome to William's Bloody Hell, so named after our founder, Sir Bloody William.
He is seen in the likeness above in a rare, 19th century woodcut. This
image was rumoured to have been
commissioned after a bout of unpleasantness
in the White Chapel district of London. Do enjoy your stay and peruse our many, varied offerings, much of which cannot be found elsewhere!
:: Shopgirl ::
by William the Bloody
Mirabelle works for Saks Fifth Avenue in California, specifically, the evening glove department. As you can imagine, it's a section that doesn't get a lot of customers. One evening, she goes out to the Laundromat to do her laundry and meets Jeremy, and nice guy about her age who expresses an interest in her. Reluctantly, she gives him her number and they go out on an uncomfortable first date, and later that week, even more uncomfortable attempts at sex. Back at work, the boredom of the glove department gets interrupted when an older man asks Mirabelle about some of the gloves in the display case and makes a purchase. That night when she gets home, Mirabelle is surprised to find that very gift boxed pair of gloves on her stoop with a note: "have dinner with me." She is both enticed and slightly concerned with his bold offer, and decides to take him up on it. Mirabelle goes out with Ray, the older man, and they both have a great time. Ray showers her with affection, expensive gifts, and great sex, but cannot offer her long term commitment. Mirabelle knows deep down that it's only a matter of time before her relationship with Ray implodes since he can never give her actual love, and wonders if maybe she was better off with the penniless and flaky but honest and true Jeremy.
The Good: Steve Martin wrote this film and starred in it as Ray, and did a great job with both. The other main roles of Mirabelle and Jeremy were also well acted by Claire Danes and Jason Schwartzman respectively. This movie is also blessed with outstanding direction and cinematography. I swear every shot, every frame of this film was simply gorgeous to behold. The story felt good. It's a film about relationships and romances, but it felt true. It wasn't about getting swept up off your feet, or someone on their death bed, or marriage, but rather more like how real life romantic relationships can be (they're usually not completely perfect).
The Bad: There is a bit of narration done by Steve Martin and I'm not sure if I like it or dislike it or what. See, it's Steve Martin, but NOT Steve Martin's character, so right there it's kind of weird. The movie was based on Martin's novella, so I wonder if this was just his attempt to squeeze some of the third person omniscient wording he had in the book that he liked and couldn't part with. The narration did offer some insights to the characters, but some of it I felt was overkill, that if the acting was good enough (and it was) we ought to made the same conclusions anyway, but they still felt the need to spell it out. Kind of underestimating the audience, aren't you? Also, there was just this one scene where Ray and Mirabelle talk on the phone about her health, and I didn't like how Ray's end of the conversation was framed. For some reason, he was BARELY in the shot at all. Like, one of his elbows was on screen and that was it. I didn't understand what they going for here, since the other 98% of the film was gorgeously shot.
Overall, I really enjoyed the movie. The characters and the situation felt real. There were no overly Hollywood type moments here at all. There are sexual situations, but no hardcore nudity, and it's never dirty. I want to mention that this film is fun, but NOT funny. You may think because it's Steve Martin that it's Roxanne, but it isn't, and that's okay. It's a beautiful film with some real heart and it made me feel all warm and gooey on the inside.
A
