Fisher is a likeable star with a knack for slapstick.
Confessions of a Shopaholic (2009)
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Reviews Counted:151
Fresh:34
Rotten:117
Average Rating:4.3/10
Consensus: This middling romantic comedy underutilizes a talented cast and delivers muddled messages on materialism and conspicuous consumption.
Rated: PG [See Full Rating] for some mild language and thematic elements.
Runtime: 1 hr 45 mins
Genre: Comedies
Theatrical Release:20-02-2009
Synopsis: Based on a pair of effervescent novels by Sophie Kinsella, CONFESSIONS OF A SHOPAHOLIC is a light and bubbly confection that should appeal to those who can identify with its heroine's passion.... Based on a pair of effervescent novels by Sophie Kinsella, CONFESSIONS OF A SHOPAHOLIC is a light and bubbly confection that should appeal to those who can identify with its heroine's passion. Rebecca Bloomwood (Isla Fisher, WEDDING CRASHERS) has a label-filled wardrobe that any fashionista would covet, but she also has credit card debt to match. She craves a job at the Vogue-like Alette, but a position at a financial magazine at the same publishing company may be her ticket in. Despite her painfully low credit rating, Becky starts dishing out advice on saving, while debt collector Derek Smeath (character actor Robert Stanton) is hot on her Louboutin heels. Meanwhile, she is competing for the affections of her charming boss, Luke Brandon (Hugh Dancy, THE JANE AUSTEN BOOK CLUB), with icy Alette employee Alicia Billington (Leslie Bibb, IRON MAN). A well-heeled hybrid of SEX AND THE CITY and THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA, SHOPAHOLIC features the talents of Patricia Field, costume designer for those two films. The clothes are almost on an equal footing with the actors here, and each well-chosen piece in Manhattan shop windows or worn by Bloomwood helps contribute to the film's bright mood. A lesser actress might have been lost in all the colors, but Fisher is a formidable comic presence who pulls off Becky's ditzy lines and goofy falls with equal aplomb. Those hoping for a smart discourse on the perils of credit cards and excess spending are certainly watching the wrong film, but SHOPAHOLIC may just be the fashion equivalent of food porn for dieters. [More]
Starring: Isla Fisher, Hugh Dancy, Joan Cusack, John Goodman
Starring: Isla Fisher, Hugh Dancy, Joan Cusack, John Goodman, John Lithgow, Kristin Scott Thomas, Fred Armisen, Leslie Bibb, Julie Hagerty, Krysten Ritter, Robert Stanton, Christine Ebersole, Clea Lewis, Wendie Malick, Stephanie March
Director: P.J. Hogan
Director: P.J. Hogan
Screenwriter: Tim Firth, Tracey Jackson
Producer: Jerry Bruckheimer
Composer: James Newton Howard
Studio: Buena Vista Internationa
Reviews for Confessions of a Shopaholic
This is a film that wants to have its cake and eat it, or mock its frock and wear it.
The irrepressible Fisher sails through all the slapstick and shrillness and remains very likeable but the manic Confessions Of A Shopaholic does her no favours.
It’s hardly suspenseful stuff, but the sassy New-York-shopper angle should keep Sex And The City fans happy without patronising them quite so cynically.
It's by-the-numbers stuff, but all so silly and goofy you can't take offence.
A man's man would certainly emit quite a few low, heartfelt growls were he forced to sit through the entirety of Confessions Of A Shopaholic, a shrill, garish knock-off of Sex And The City.
If you are strapped for cash, wait until this one turns up in the DVD bargain bin.
This sickening ode to consumerist greed comes just in time for the recession.
Slick and polished, the rest is by-the-numbers schmaltz, offset only by the adorable presence of Ms Fisher.
The film hypocritically fetishises until it half-heartedly tells us that such rampant consumerism is bad.
If you want gritty realism, see an arthouse movie. Or shop in a pound store. As journalist Rebecca, Isla Fisher is silly and adorable – just like this adaptation of Sophie Kinsella’s novel.
It's a shame eBay didn't get their hand in here, but then that would have spoiled almost two hours of light-hearted anti-capitalist sentiment from the producer of Top Gun.
The tone of the film, directed by P. J. Hogan, is frothy and frivolous; the plot is glaringly predictable.
This excruciatingly bad attempt at a breezy romcom is an ill-conceived, dreadfully executed mess. Totally bereft of laughs, drama and chemistry between the leads, the movie is so nausea-inducing that it belongs in a sub genre of its own - the vomcom.
Shopaholic is a pleasingly addictive treat. Happily, it’s one that won’t max out your credit card.
The conclusion is almost as predictable as the Harrods sale…even if you feel you’ve not quite got your money’s worth. Not so much top draw as bargain basement.
More Topshop than Top Gun, this Bruckheimer effort sees Fisher finally make good on her Wedding Crashers promise in a film that manages to be both a frothy romcom and a cautionary tale on the perils of plastic splurgery.
This rival to the other chick flick of the moment, He's Just Not That Into You, is a fabulously frothy and fun fashion film.
The whole thing is a piece of romantic codswallop that relies on the ordinary but feisty charm of Fisher.
Confessions of a Shopaholic is a disappointing romcom that fails to push any of the required emotional buttons, thanks to a sloppy, unfocussed script and a central character who's impossible to care about.
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