Little Shop of Horrors (1986 film) = Finished

Let's talk about Seymour.

We've seen the "nice guy" in movies and TV shows - a lot. You get the sense that there's a lot of so-called nice guys behind the scenes writing these characters. And usually, once you dig past the self-awarely quirky surface and conga line of explicitly presented personality flaws, the nice guy isn't very nice at all. This can usually be seen in how he relates to his storytelling pair: the dream girl. AKA the girl next door, AKA the manic pixie. The nice guy laments that the person dream girl is currently with "isn't good enough" for her, as he exhibits many of the same controlling or subtly abusive traits within his own actions. Folks sometimes complain that these dream girls aren't fleshed out. I believe this decision is made by necessity. If the manic pixie dream girl was a fully realized character, the typical nice guy wouldn't be able to project his own conception of her character, and his beliefs of how she symbolizes his salvation.

Seymour isn't the typical nice guy.

Where the Hollywood Nice Guy projects, Seymour respects. He accepts Audrey as she is, and rather than projecting his desires onto her, simply tries to see the best in...everyone around him, actually. Including people who don't deserve it. Seymour doesn't force his affections onto Audrey, or lament the "friendzone," or pine for the day that they'll be together. In an industry filled with nice guys, Seymour genuinely is.

It's refreshing.

Audrey's characterization isn't without issues (the scene with her and Audrey II that echoes sexual assault is rough), but "Somewhere That's Green" in particular reveals someone with a potent inner life that drives her actions in a logical way. Ellen Greene also just executes pitch-perfect swings between tones and postures, all while retaining an inner transparency. It's a dazzling performance that grows more incredible the more you examine it.

I keep talking about characters because Little Shop of Horrors is a fundamentally character-driven movie. The plot is advanced at every stage based on cogs set in motion from the first moments of the musical. Seymour's inherent interests lead to Aubrey's tending, which leads to the shop beginning to feed the shopkeeper's greed, which leads to Seymour capitulating to Aubrey's demands, which leads to Steve Martin's whirlwind performance eventually giving us someone heinous (yet entertaining) enough to be Audrey's first kill.

There's so many neat touches in this movie. Bill Murray's character reveling in the sadism of Steve Martin's dentist in a scene that goes on FAR LONGER THAN IT HAS ANY RIGHT TO AND SO IS JUST THE RIGHT LENGTH. The contradictory timelessness that keeps the movie feeling both dated (ala a period piece), and yet incredibly fresh and relevant today. The underlying sense of innocence that keeps any of the quite awful events depicted from becoming overwhelming.

Little Shop of Horrors is one of the best damn films ever made and I am actively upset it took me so long to discover it.

HOT TAKE OF THE DAY:
Little Shop of Horrors is also the best film adaptation of Faust ever made.