Instead of venturing outside into the June heat and humidity that has come to visit the DC area, Kellie and I stayed inside and watched a few movies. One was a hit, the other was one that I thought would’ve hit a home run, but instead grounded out.
Shopgirl, the screen adaptation of Steve Martin’s short novel of the same name. Martin also stars in the movie, playing one of two potential “Mr. Right’s” for Mirabelle, the shopgirl played by Claire Danes. The other is a scruffy-looking roadie named Jeremy. At first, it seems like Mirabelle will find happiness with Martin’s Ray Porter, but it becomes clear before long that he’s pretty much a middle-aged cad interested in little more than having a girlfriend in Los Angeles to go along with the one he has in Seattle. Danes and Martin both turn in great performances here and the movie ends with a suprising change in Jeremy that turns out for the best. This isn’t the best movie ever made, but it was well-made and entertaining.
Our second movie was the one I was looking forward to seeing. I had seen the original version of The Producers on television several times and, like everyone else, heard how fabulous the Broadway play was with stars Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick. So The Producers has got to be a great movie, right ? Well, not so much. The musical numbers were, for me, just a little over the top, and, after the climatic “Springtime for Hitler” scene, which I think was funnier in the original version, the movie goes on for another twenty minutes and completely falls flat. Three out of five stars, and that, I think, is being generous.
