Confessions of a Shopaholic

Rebecca Bloomwood (Isla Fisher) has run into a bit of bad luck. The home and garden magazine she writes for has just shut down, and she can’t afford to pay her rent. Instead of adopting a frugal lifestyle, however, she continues to frequent sample sales and a variety of designer-clothing boutiques. She simply can’t stop shopping, and her addiction to buying new clothes is so bad that the mannequins have even started talking to her. It’s ironic, then, when she gets a job working at a business magazine and launches a column about how to stay out of debt. It’s inevitable that her inability to control her own spending habits will be exposed and undo the celebrity status she attains through her column. Based on the Sophie Kinsella novel, P.J. Hogan’s film has some good moments (mostly because Fisher is so adept at physical comedy, tripping and flinging herself around relentlessly). But the film quickly fizzles as it takes on a more serious tone and develops the rather routine love story between Rebecca and her editor Luke (Hugh Dancy). HH