‘Shopgirl’ portrays the ordinary as unique

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In theaters

SHOPGIRL, directed by Anand Tucker, written by Steve Martin, based on his novella, 116 minutes, rated R.

The new movie, “Shopgirl,” isn’t nearly as light as it sounds. It isn’t a comedy, it isn’t a romantic comedy, it isn’t a “chick flick,” and it certainly isn’t about shopping.

Instead, it’s about something far richer, more interesting and complex – a May-December romance between Mirabelle (Claire Danes), who works behind a glove counter at Saks Fifth Avenue in Los Angeles, and the boundaries she must learn to set if she’s to continue her relationship with Ray Porter (Steve Martin), a multimillionaire businessman who made his fortune in the tech industry.

There is every indication that Ray might best connect with a computer than with a living, breathing human being. The man thrums with irony. He’s aloof yet somehow connected, kind yet self-involved. He has a gentle face and an easy spirit that belies a soul that would prefer that no one come too close.

Essentially, Ray is damaged goods holed up in a fabulous house and decked out in more Armani than, well, Armani. When he cruises Mirabelle at Saks and asks her to dinner in ways best left for you, none of it has a whiff of anything insidious because Ray isn’t a creep. He’s just a man with a wary heart, which he tries to explain to Mirabelle as clearly as he can before things go too far. He tells her that he isn’t looking for anything long term. He wants to stay in the moment, enjoy the moment, and then move onto the next moment, preferably with her. That last part would be especially nice for Ray, though he wants nothing more from Mirabelle. Why complicate things?

With the terms presumably understood, they have their affair, and for a time, it’s wonderful, particularly for this girl from the backwoods of Vermont, whose life heretofore was inhabited by some pretty lonely rooms upon her arrival in L.A.

Her first relationship in the movie, after all, isn’t with Ray, but with Jeremy (Jason Schwartzman), a sketchy amp salesman cum font artist who meets Mirabelle one evening at a laundromat just when she’s at her most vulnerable. Together, they have an awkward date that leads to awkward sex. In the long stretch of awkwardness that follows, Jeremy hits the road with a popular band and starts reading self-help books to lift himself to a higher level of evolution. That’s good for Jeremy, but then along comes Ray, his private-plane bling, his good manners and his endearing touch.

And then comes trouble.

The movie, which director Anand Tucker (“The Girl with the Pearl Earring”) based on Martin’s script, itself based on his own novella, becomes a bit too neat as the threads of all its relationships do what you know they will do – they cross. Still, when they do, the very reserved, polished, well-bred “Shopgirl” doesn’t make too much of a fuss about it. And maybe that’s why it packs such a tough, sideways punch.

In “Shopgirl,” we learn that life moves on, that love can and does beat within iron hearts, and that people come into and out of one’s life for a reason. There’s nothing new in that, but there is truth to it. It’s how Danes, Martin and Schwartzman handle the familiarity of their situation that makes “Shopgirl” the fine movie that it is.

Grade: B+

On video and DVD

THE POLAR EXPRESS, directed by Robert Zemeckis, written by Zemeckis and William Broyles Jr., 97 minutes, rated G.

Robert Zemeckis’ “The Polar Express” is a refrigerated sleeper car so devoid of life, it chills the screen.

From Chris Van Allsburg’s children’s book, Zemeckis uses performance-capture technology and real actors – Tom Hanks chief among them – to achieve photo-realism through computer animation. What we get is a movie whose computer chip renders beautiful interiors and landscapes but that fails to faithfully capture the human form.

The children in this movie, in particular, don’t look like real tots struggling to believe in Santa. They look like waxen, undead extras straight out of a Romero movie, their lifeless eyes so unnerving, they make the movie difficult to enjoy.

The film follows an 8-year-old boy (voiced by Hanks) whose belief in Santa is on the wane. On Christmas Eve, he falls into a deep, vivid dream that transports him to the North Pole by way of the Polar Express, a gleaming train that magically pulls in front of the boy’s house. The Express is filled with other children needing their own beliefs recharged, and it’s manned by a conductor also played by Hanks. Their journey to the North Pole proves harrowing, ghostly and fraught with danger – it’s literally a roller-coaster ride into situations that nearly cost all of them their lives.

Individual scenes in “Express” are impressive and the movie does mirror the look of the book. But for the warm cup of holiday cheer most audience members rightfully will expect from this G-rated movie, they should know that its strong Nazi undertones (the kids entering the train, the chilling scene in which Santa arrives at an elf rally) and the bizarre, stuffed look of its characters sinks whatever good might have come of it.

Grade: C-

Visit www.weekinrewind.com, the archive of Bangor Daily News film critic Christopher Smith’s reviews, which appear Mondays in Discovering, Fridays in Happening, and Weekends in Television. He may be reached at Christopher@weekinrewind.com.

THE VIDEO-DVD CORNER

Renting a video or a DVD? BDN film critic Christopher Smith can help. Below are his grades of recent releases in video stores. Those capped and in bold print are new to video stores this week.

The Adventures of Sharkboy & Lavagirl In 3-D – D-

The Amityville Horror – C-

Batman Anthology – A-

Batman Begins – A

Bride & Prejudice – B

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – A-

Crash – D

Cursed – C-

Cypher – C+

Desperate Housewives: Complete First Season – B+

The Devil’s Rejects – B

Empire Falls – C-

Fever Pitch – A-

Flight Of The Phoenix – C-

Guess Who – C+

Gus Van Sant’s Last Days – B-

Happy Endings – C+

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – B-

Hostage – C-

The Interpreter – B+

Kicking and Screaming – C

Kingdom of Heaven – B-

King Kong: Collector’s Edition – A

Kung Fu Hustle – A

A Lot Like Love – D

Madagascar – D

March of the Penguins – A

Melinda and Melinda – B

Million Dollar Baby – A

Millions – A-

Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous – C+

Monster-in-Law – B-

Mr. & Mrs. Smith – B

The Notebook – B+

Office Space: Special Edition with Flair – B

Point Pleasant: Complete Season – C

Polar Express – C-

Rize – A-

Robots – C-

Sahara – C-

The Sea Inside – A-

That ’70s Show: Complete Fourth Season – B

Sin City – A-

The Skeleton Key – B

Stargate Atlantis: Complete First Season – B

Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith – B+

Upside of Anger – B

Unleashed – C-

Warner Holiday Collection – A

War of the Worlds – B+

The Wedding Date – B

Whoopi: Back to Broadway – C+