"Mirabelle Buttersfield moved from Vermont hoping to begin her life. And now she is stranded in the vast openness of LA."
Shopgirl is a 2005 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Anand Tucker and adapted from the eponymous 2000 novella by Steve Martin, who also stars in it with Claire Danes and Jason Schwartzman.
In Los Angeles, 28-year-old Mirabelle Buttersfield (Danes) is a bored and lonely Vermont transplant and aspiring artist who works selling expensive gloves at a boutique. Starved for love and affection, she tries hooking up with her directionless neighbor Jeremy (Schwartzman). When that doesn't work out, her eye is caught by Ray Porter (Martin), a wealthy customer at the boutique who is 35 years her senior. Between these two would-be suitors, Mirabelle finds herself with a choice to make.
Tropes in both the book and the film:
- Armor-Piercing Question: Mirabelle triggers the unravelling of her and Ray's relationship when she asks, "So are you just biding your time with me?"
- Bad Date: Mirabelle and Jeremy's first date. They don't go anywhere, she pays and there is no conversation to speak of. Their next date is even worse.
- Brilliant, but Lazy: Mirabelle is bright and highly educated but unmotivated.
- Commitment Issues: Ray's are justified by the fact that he's been married before. He's also convinced he could commit to the right person.
- Endearingly Dorky: Mirabelle is awkward, bookish, and trusting to a fault, but it's all part of what makes her attractive.
- First Guy Wins: Mirabelle ends up with Jeremy, the first guy she encounters within the story. Justified in that while Mirabelle is with Ray, Jeremy is actively working on himself.
- Foil: Extroverted, manipulative Lisa serves as this to introverted, guileless Mirabelle. Lampshaded in the book, when the narrator observes, in Kantian terms, "...that Lisa is all phenomena and no noumena, and that Mirabelle is all noumena and no phenomena."
- Ray and Jeremy serve as foils for each other (see Rich Suitor, Poor Suitor below).
- Gold Digger: Lisa, Mirabelle's coworker. She even sleeps with a suited-up Jeremy thinking he's the millionaire Ray Porter.
- Love Hungry: Mirabelle sleeps with Jeremy just so she can feel some intimate affection. She doesn't get any of it.
- May–December Romance: Deconstructed with Mirabelle, who's in her twenties, and Ray, who's in his fifties. Despite their attraction to each other, there is an undeniable power imbalance.
- Opposites Attract: Deconstructed with Mirabelle and Jeremy, who when they meet can't connect on anything so the relationship quickly fizzles out (To quote the book, "At this stage of their lives, in true and total fact, the only thing they have in common is a Laundromat."). This becomes a case of Decon-Recon Switch when Mirabelle and Jeremy meet again as more mature adults and find their differences complement each other (Again, to quote the book, "Their union is the kind of perfect mismatch that makes for long relationships.").
- Rich Suitor, Poor Suitor: In a more nuanced case than usual, the poor suitor (Jeremy) is a repulsive, cheap and clueless Lower-Class Lout who has nothing to offer until he finds his way, but later on he realizes he has genuine feelings for Mirabelle. Ray, on the other hand, is wealthy, charming and experienced but only wants to sleep with her.
- Sex Equals Love: Subverted with Mirabelle and Ray. Mirabelle falls in love with him, Ray doesn't return her feelings.
- Sexual Karma: Lisa plots to steal Ray from Mirabelle, but Lisa ends up being the humiliated one when she accidentally sleeps with Jeremy instead.
- The Four Loves: Ray feels a mix of lust and paternal affection for Mirabelle, but he can't give her the romantic love she craves from him.
Tropes in the book only:
- A Man Is Always Eager: Even when Mirabelle is in a deeply depressive state, Ray thinks about having sex with her, if only to bring her out of it.
- Older Than They Look: 28-year-old Mirabelle is described as looking 24 and even 19 at times.
- Sliding Scale of Beauty: Lisa is a World Class Beauty/"can be counted among the very beautiful." Mirabelle is a Common Beauty/"beautiful in a wallflowerish kind of way."
- Thinks Like a Romance Novel: Mirabelle has an idealized vision of sex and even a ranking of embraces she dreams of being held in. It just so happens that she enjoys Gothic nineteenth-century novels and points to Wuthering Heights as an example of how a lover should act.
