What is an –aholic? An –aholic is a suffix slapped onto the end of anything one can form an addiction to or be obsessed with. Possibly the best known of these would be the classic “alcoholic,” but that’s much too heavy for the likes of this discussion. Let’s water it down, shall we? You can be a workaholic. This is someone who’s obsessed with his or her career and spares little time for a personal life. You can be a chocaholic. This is someone who might swoon over a finely crafted window display of Belgian chocolates. And then there’s the shopaholic.
This is someone who cannot resist the urge to buy things. This could be clothes, purses, shoes, anything. It’s an actual disorder. Really, it is. Some people find spending money on new purchases somehow therapeutic and end up replacing what they may really need (actual therapy) with a closet full of things. This is not to be confused with materialism. Madonna isn’t necessarily addicted to shopping, she’s just materialistic. But that’s a whole separate issue.
“My name is Rebecca Bloomwood, and I am a shopaholic.” The first step is admitting it. These are the Confessions of a Shopaholic. Rebecca (Isla Fisher) is a journalist living in New York with two goals. 1) Become a writer for Alette, a premier fashion magazine. 2) Buy everything in New York. The only problem is that she has no money. An addiction to shopping on a writer’s salary can only mean one thing: debt. Rebecca ends up with a job at a financial magazine that is connected to Alette via publisher, with hopes that she can one day schmooze writing about numbers to writing about dresses. All she needs to do is impress Alette’s gatekeeper (Kristin Scott Thomas). This would be much like trying to impress Anna Wintour for a shot at joining her staff at Vogue. Good luck with that!
Through a Legally Blond exterior, she bounces her way from store to store, dodging the debt collector, but winning over her publishers. Not only does she win over the magazine community…she grabs the attention of her editor in the world of finance, Luke (Hugh Dancy). After a few outrageous purchases, her roommate and necessary girl sidekick, Suze (Krysten Ritter), forces Rebecca into joining a Shopaholics Anonymous group. Rebecca tries to balance her life and her checkbook, while trying to kick her –aholism.
Isla Fisher is absolutely adorable as our Rebecca. She seems to float on screen, firing off smiles like bursting light bulbs at a photo shoot. The movie took pieces from other romantic comedies like Reese Witherspoon’s fashionista-turned-lawyer flick, Legally Blonde, and of course Sex and the City. It even has the costume designer to prove it. Where Patricia Field left her mark all over SatC, it’s just as glaring through all of the glittery sequins and shimmering silks of Confessions. You could say that the story has been done—but these days, what hasn’t? For a cute romantic comedy about a gal who loves to shop, it was great.
And funny too. I may just be a sucker for a cheap laugh at the classic moment when someone walks face first into a plate-glass window, but to see one of Field’s meticulously crafted ensembles smashed up against a slab of crystal clear glass, well, it was a good one. That’ll teach you to think before you swipe the plastic.
Blu-ray Bonus Features
Confessions on Blu-ray delivered a minimal list of extra features, although it’d be hard to imagine what else could’ve been included on a movie that said all it needed to within its credit rolls. You can view a couple of music videos or flip through the deleted scenes. This probably won’t hold your interest long, but neither will the others. There’s a blooper reel, which was disappointing for its brevity. And lastly there’s a “Behind the Fashion” section, which was the best of all choices offered as it provides a few sections within itself that cover the likes of Patricia Field and New York shopping. It’s a cute addition to an otherwise bland extra features selection.
"Confessions of a Shopaholic" is on sale June 23, 2009 and is rated PG. Comedy, Romance. Directed by PJ Hogan. Written by Tracey Jackson, Tim Firth, Kayla Alpert (screenplay) ; Sophie Kinsella (novels). Starring Hugh Dancy, Isla Fisher, Joan Cusack, John Goodman, Kristin Scott Thomas, Krysten Ritter.
