Ladies, beware: Henry Jaglom is back, and he still thinks he understands women. Forming a loose triptych with Eating (1990) and Babyfever (1994), Going Shopping traffics in inanities that make the comic strip Cathy read like a Simone de Beauvoir treatise by comparison. The owner of a precious boutique-caf, Holly (Foyt, who co-wrote with husband Jaglom and must also take some of the blame) has a Mother's Day sale to raise the 40K she needs to keep her shop open; this tedious drama is punctuated by fights with her hapless boyfriend, pubescent daughter and klepto mother (Grant, sporting the same 'do she's had since Valley of the Dolls). Curiously, no one seems to notice that Holly's treasured bespoke garments resemble nothing more than Daffy's togs.
Like most of the women in Jaglom's film—characters who evoke exhaustion rather than empathy—Holly is perpetually neurotic and chronically dissatisfied. In lieu of distaff insight, we are pummeled with retail-therapy banalities; as this is a Jaglom joint, several women directly address the camera with such pronouncements as "I think I buy a feeling more than an outfit," and "I think if people could wear something new every day, there'd be no such thing as depression." If Jaglom could stop recycling such soggy pop psych, audience members would be less depressed too. For a real movie about women and clothes, add Mahogany to your Netflix queue.—Melissa Anderson