You need to know this right from the start:
Confessions of a Shopaholic is a likeable, if totally predictable, 104 minutes of cinematic cotton candy. It won't fill you up, but hey, it's summer and we don't want to get in the pool after a heavy meal, do we? No, didn't think so.
As the movie opens we find Becky Bloomwood (Isla Fisher) writing for a gardening magazine. She's a ditsy redhead who, when she's not turning out pruning prose, is shopping and shopping and shopping. Becky's MasterCard and Visa have been used so much they have skid marks.
Suddenly the world makes sense. Maybe even fashion sense.
Young Becky is a likeable protagonist who lives with a quirky roommate in one of those "no-23-year-old-can-really-afford-this-place"
She doesn't land a job at the fashion magazine. But, since we all know that magazine writing jobs grow on trees in the Big Apple, it doesn't take her long to find work with a financial magazine. This writing opportunity gives Becky plenty of time for fish-out-of-water shenanigans and the chance to fall in love with her cute boss.
Of course, there's just one problem with the new job: Becky is all about FASHION and not about financial. You see the irony here, right? She uses the "For Dummies" book series to write her first article and is busted by her boss. Instead of firing her (note to 20-somethings who may read this review, this is what happens in real life) he challenges her to write the column using a (wait for it) FASHION angle. Suddenly, the world makes sense. Maybe even fashion sense.
Becky's column is an instant success and launches the dowdy financial magazine into the mainstream. It also gives Becky enough notoriety to start appearing on morning talk shows. This new found financial fame does come with a price. It raises her profile just high enough for the debt collector that's been stalking her to finally out her money misadventures on national TV.
Her cover's blown (the Emperor has no clothes!). Becky's $16K in credit card debt sends her fleeing from the magazine, her cute boss and quirky roommate. She heads back to the waiting arms of mom and dad. These two Boomer parents (played by the always funny John Goodman and Joan Cusack) help her navigate the road to redemption which as everyone knows goes through
In light of these troubling economic times a movie that makes light of credit card debt and layoffs may seem insensitive. Then again, it may just be the sweet, airy lift you need. Hey, it worked for
Confessions of a Shopaholic is based on Sophie Kinsella's book series of the same name (think Sex & the City with more emphasis on money than sex).
The Boomer Brief recommends Netflix for your movie rentals. The monthly rental packages start at only $4.99 - and you can cancel at any time.