Confessions of a Shopaholic DVD review
By Alexandra Heilbron on June 24, 2009 | 1 Comment
When it first came out that a remake of the best-selling novel Confessions of a Shopaholic was coming to the big screen, fans and Manolo-wearing shopping addicts everywhere rejoiced around the globe. And when it was announced that the lively and beautiful Isla Fisher (Wedding Crashers) would star as the notorious Rebecca Bloomwood, it became even more compelling. Who better to play the part of the hilarious neurotic shopper from London than Fisher? Being an Aussie native, Fisher would no doubt masterfully deliver a classic English accent. To add to the casting perfection, British actor Hugh Dancy was to play her love interest, Luke Brandon.
But when the trailer was first revealed the bubble of excitement soon burst. The fun-loving English characters, including Rebecca’s parents (played by Joan Cusack and John Goodman) would not only be Americanized, but the story would be set in New York. Blimey!
In Confessions, Rebecca Bloomwood is a sweet and charming New York City girl who has a tiny little problem that is rapidly turning into a big problem: she’s hopelessly addicted to shopping and drowning in a sea of debt. While Rebecca has dreams of working for the top fashion magazine Alette, she can’t quite get her foot in the door—that is, until she snags a job as an advice columnist for a new financial magazine published by the same company.
Overnight, her column about shopping becomes hugely popular, turning her into an overnight celebrity. But when her compulsive shopping and growing debt issues threaten to destroy her love life and derail her career, with no help from that pesky, stalking debt collector, she struggles to keep it all from spiraling out of control.
Although it’s acknowledged that making books to film can be difficult (see our Big Scren Books feature), a lot of the story in Confessions falls completely flat, and is at times boring. But because Fisher is such a great comedic actress the film has its charming and funny moments and you can’t help but fall in love with her character, and her wardrobe.
It’s definitely worth popping into your DVD player for a night of mindless fun, especially if you haven’t read the novels, but don’t expect anything from the extras. A few, uneventful deleted scenes and a blooper reel seem as though they were just thrown in without thought. Rebecca Bloomwood herself would have thought these to be “cheap” additions and sooo not her style! The extras get a big, fat “F.”
—Toni-Marie Ippolito
Release date: June 23, 2009
DVD Star rating: 2 out of 5
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