I must sheepishly admit that I enjoyed the frothy fun of "Confessions of a Shopaholic," and I can only imagine that women will like it even more than this cranky male film critic.
Confessions of a Shopaholic (2009)
Tomatometer
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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.
Australian Theatrical Release:
Mar 12, 2009 Wide
US Box Office: $44,239,688
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
One of those so-labeled 'chick flicks' that shows why that term is so often used as a pejorative.
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.
If ever there was a worst time to release a film entitled 'Confessions of a Shopaholic,' which stars a fiscally irresponsible main character buried in debt it would be while the nation is in the midst of a terrible recession.
Shopaholic's biggest problem is that it wants to have it both ways. It wants to luxuriate in expensive clothes and shoes and other princess-fantasy accoutrements while at the same time posing as a heavy-handed brief against debt, shallowness and financial
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.
Isla Fisher has appeal to spare, but this graceless, witless, unfunny so-called "comedy" does little more than reinforce the worst female stereotypes.
The problem nipping at the designer heels of Confessions is not the state of the economy but, rather, the film's predictability.
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.
Latest News for Confessions of a Shopaholic
August 06, 2009:
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