Fri, March 3, 2006
2006 Movie Tournament (of Movies) Champion—9:11 AM
Now that's a mandate! Shopgirl has won this year's Movie Tournament (of Movies), by a hell of a margin. We had quite a few challenging match-ups, and no shortage of surprises, but I think we've picked another great winner this year.
It was a very daunting task indeed to adapt Steve Martin's brilliant, poignant Shopgirl for the big screen, and the result is truly breathtaking. By no means a literal translation of the book, Anand Tucker's intimate and soulful film works as a handy companion piece to Martin's novella. The most difficult thing for Martin the screenwriter was to retain the contemplative tone of the book without resorting to a bunch of hacky voiceover. In this he was mostly successful, but the true success came from director Tucker, who was able to infuse silent moments with longing, regret, and soul-searching.
Credit also is due to Steve Martin's moving and restrained performance, as well as Claire Danes's Mirabelle – a role which drew upon tools from her performance skillset that she hasn't used in a while: a character truly innocent and delicate, but by no means fragile.
Thanks to all who voted – now on to the Oscars! (Where no such brilliance will be recognized.)
