Directed by: P.J. Hogan
Premise: An adaptation of Sophie Kinsella’s Shopaholic novels. Isla Fisher plays a fledgling journalist with an impulsive shopping
problem and thousands of dollars of credit card debt. After taking on a
columnist position at a financial newspaper, she struggles to take a grasp of
her problem while a romance buds between her and the magazine’s editor (Hugh
Dancy).
What Works: Isla Fisher is a very funny actress and
she is very skilled at being awkward but sweet. In her best moments in this
film, Fisher hints at the deeper reasons for the character’s addiction to
shopping and the self-loathing that comes afterward. The story follows an
addiction plotline, as she attempts to get a grip on her impulsions while
constantly being foiled by temptation. By combining the junkie plot with
shopping, Confessions of a Shopaholic is able to bring some new twists
onto this familiar story structure. The tone of the film is geared toward
teenage girls and its sense of fashion and romance make it a PG-13 version of Sex
and the City.
What Doesn’t: The story of Confessions of a
Shopaholic plateaus halfway though the film. The addiction and love
plotlines are done so predictably that the film needs something else to
jumpstart it and keep the story fresh and amusing, but the film never does that.
Unlike The
Devil Wears Prada, a similarly themed film, Confessions of a
Shopaholic never gets beneath the surface of its characters or of the
capitalist rattrap that the protagonist finds herself in. This is a shame
because the picture sets up a theme early on, comparing the culture of blind
consumption and debt with the financial misdeeds of Wall Street. The theme is
abandoned by the end of the first act as the film opts for a more conventional
love story. This is immensely disappointing since the film could have found
itself so relevant and even empowering if it had followed the instincts and
themes of the opening. The film gets worse as it goes on and even a bit
misogynistic as it portrays women as shallow creatures who will fist fight over
a handbag. The ending is most troubling as the heroine learns to let go of her
possessions by exploiting other women with the same impulsive shopping problem.
Bottom Line: Confessions of a Shopaholic may appeal to high school age girls but that’s about it. The film wastes its premise and delivers a very by-the-numbers story that is not a total bust nor very extraordinary.