Confessions of a Shopaholic

Being a non-shopper, I can hardly call myself expert on the parsing of a shopaholic in Confessions of a Shopaholic. But this I can say: Rebecca Bloomwood (Isla Fisher) is an addict of major proportions, unable to let go of the exhilaration that shopping brings, a feeling that the world is better for her purchases.

The film is a cliché from the get go, as corny as could possibly be about 25 year old writer Rebecca with the shopping affliction who eventually meets her dream man through a series of subterfuges that would make Melanie Griffith's Tess in Working Girl proud. What saves the film from my scourge, which did not spare the recent Pink Panther 2, is Isla Fisher, who plays dangerous innocence with sincerity and fresh-facedness that makes even Anne Hathaway's Devil Wears Prada role seem downright Machiavellian.

Confessions has this going for it: Although it is not a Judd Apatow comedy with some layers of sophisticated social comedy, it has moments of laughter and social conscience. Coming as it does amidst the worst recession in decades, in which shopping would be a welcome antidote to the fear of spending that exacerbates the recession, Confessions almost makes a case for credit spending; then again maybe such encouragement is not a good thing for shopaholics.

I have to give credit where credit is due; "Confessions of a Shopaholic" does have some engaging moments of comedic credibility. But unfortunately not enough to provide the film with a high interest rate. "Confessions of a Shopaholic" stars the perky Isla Fisher as Rebecca Bloomwood, a full-time magazine writer who also moonlights and daylights as a full-time shopaholic. Ms. Bloomwoodgale herself persistently shops & shops and has run her credit card balances to astronomical rates. Rebecca is in denial that she has a consumer addiction even though she continues to confront many credit card denials in her shopping sprees. She inadvertently gets hired to work as a journalist in (out of all places) a financial magazine. However, her overridden goal is to work as a fashion journalist in the monarchic fashion magazine "Adelle". She starts writing columns in the financial magazine with the alias "the girl with the green scarf" on the nightmare of commercial manipulation and consumer zaniness. Yes! That is true! Is this great country or what? Oh wait, memo to self: this is a movie! Rebecca's personal list includes: a humble editor boss whom she falls for, a best friend roommate who tries to control her shopamanian ways, and parents who want to pursue their R.V. road trip dreams. Eventually and predictably, Rebecca does get herself in several hot water scenarios caused by her consumer craziness and persistent blasphemy. So therefore, she does go through the self-realization addiction process. Director P.J. Hogan's stereotypical depictions of the consumer industry did not provide me anything of originality to get all charged about. However, I must not discount the fact that I did like how he directed Isla Fisher. She was The Fisher Queen of this film with her zany but yet fervent performance; Isla is sure to have her master thespian card renewed with other comedic leading roles in the foreseeable future. However, the rest of the cast of "Confessions of a Shopaholic" are not worthy of a credit thespian increase. Screenwriter Tracey Jackson's script was not of a "laugh-it-all blue light special" material, but commendable enough for a few laughs in return. Due to our nation's economic strife, "Confessions of a Shopaholic" might not be the ideal movie to watch these days; but then again as was previously mentioned- It is a movie! So this yours truly movieholic will try to sale it to you at a moderate price. *** Average

I confess. I fell for the Shopaholic. Isla Fisher is charming, funny, adorably goofy yet undeniably attractive. You can't help but notice her uncanny resemblance to Enchanted's Amy Adams, which is not a bad thing at all, yet she still maintains the same unique kookiness we all enjoyed in her role as Vince Vaughn's equal in The Wedding Crashers. The incredible job on the CGI'd mannequins, done by Lucasfilms' Industrial Light & Magic, is also worth mentioning.

You're not supposed to go into the movie expecting it to be the next epic Titanic love story. You're expecting it to be goofy and sentimental yet genuine and entertaining, and it was all those things.

Confessions of a Shopaholic is a rare gem that's worth the guilty swipe of a maximized credit card.

"Confessions of a Shopaholic" is a chick flick romcom that you can take your daughter to see. You can take your mother to see it. Heck, you can take grandma. It's rated PG. No f-bombs. No naked people. No gun play.

Isla Fisher plays Rebecca Bloomfield, a journalist with an addiction to shopping. She gets into very deep debt. Kind of like our nation has done recently and is continuing to do. Not that this movie is intended to be any kind of political metaphor. It's just a cute and funny movie which any of us, male or female, can relate to---if we've ever accumulated too big a balance on our credit cards. (I know that I could've used a bailout a few times in my life!)

While the script provides some decent laughs, I loved Isla Fisher's physical comedy. She's good.

Hugh Dancy as the male lead was okay. But I'll leave the critique of his work to a female poster.

Always fun to see actors and actresses who you like but haven't seen on screen that much lately and "Shopaholic" has a few. Like Julie "Airplane" Hagerty and Wendy "Just Shoot Me/Dream On" Malick. Kristin Scott-Thomas, John Lithgow and, yes, Lynn Redgrave. Not to mention Joan Cusack and John Goodman as Rebecca's mom and dad.

For me, this is way more entertaining than last week's chick flick (the one which I'm just not that into). Even though that one had more star power, this one is the better movie, I think.

Can't believe i rewatched this several times just to see Hugh's part. He was so charming, many cringey scenes suddenly didn't seem that cringey at all