Confessions of a Shopaholic

Infused with a relentlessly slick sensibility, Confessions of a Shopaholic primarily comes off as a typically dumbed-down mainstream romantic comedy that seems to have been primarily geared towards undiscriminating teenagers – which is a shame, undoubtedly, given the presence of several top-notch performers within the cast (including John Lithgow, Kristin Scott Thomas, and John Goodman). The movie stars Isla Fisher as Rebecca Bloomwood, a magazine journalist whose addiction to shopping becomes increasingly problematic after she loses her job and her income dwindles to nothing. Through a series of misunderstandings, Rebecca quickly finds herself writing for a financial magazine under the leadership of a hunky editor/love interest (Hugh Dancy’s Luke Brandon) and is eventually labelled a literary sensation after her first article becomes an unexpected smash – though Rebecca’s notoriety is ultimately threatened by a tenacious bill collector bent on exposing her shameful secret. There’s little doubt that Confessions of a Shopaholic possesses its share of admittedly charming moments (eg the ongoing banter between Rebecca and Luke is as adorably compelling as one might’ve hoped), yet it’s just as clear that the movie suffers from an almost unbearably uneven sensibility that only grows more pronounced as it progresses. Screenwriters Tracey Jackson, Tim Firth, and Kayla Alpert, working from a series of books by Sophie Kinsella, place an continued emphasis on elements of a decidedly superfluous nature, with the most obvious example of this surely the aforementioned bill collector’s efforts at publicly humiliating Rebecca. It’s a subplot that seems to have been included merely to pave the way for an eye-rollingly melodramatic third act, which boasts not only a fake break-up between Rebecca and Luke but also a fake break-up between Rebecca and her best friend (Krysten Ritter’s Suze)! Fisher’s ingratiating performance is generally rendered moot as a result and it’s subsequently hard to envision the movie holding any appeal for either the books’ fans or newcomers to Kinsella’s broadly-conceived universe, which is especially disappointing given director P.J. Hogan’s previous successes within the romcom genre (ie 1994’s Muriel’s Wedding).

** out of ****