User reviews

Cute rom-com. Suitable for all ages. Feel-good movie.

In New York, the journalist and compulsive liar Rebecca Bloomwood (Isla Fisher) is an addicted consumer that can not resist shopping fashionable clothes and outfits in fancy shops and has several unplayable debts with the credit cards. She dreams on working in the fashion magazine Alette owned by the sophisticated Alette Naylor (Kristin Scott Thomas), but she does not succeed in her intent. When Becky loses her job, she drinks a lot of booze with her best friend Suze (Krysten Ritter) and sends an offensive letter to the editor Luke Brandon (Hugh Dancy) from the financial magazine "Successful Saving" and an article to Alette to show her potential. However, she unintentionally switches the correspondences in the mailbox and Luke hires her to write a column called "The Girl in the Green Scarf" in his magazine using a simple language and metaphors that could be easily understood by common people. Meanwhile the debt collector Derek Smeath (Robert Stanton) is chasing Becky and she is avoiding him everywhere, telling that he is an ex-boyfriend that is stalking her. When her column becomes a success, Becky is invited to participate in a talk show and Luke and she fall in love for each other. However, her lies and debts put her in a difficult situation with her audience, Suze and Luke.

"Confessions of a Shopaholic" is a silly story with a shallow and unlikable red-haired character that is the stereotype of the dumb-blonde that surprisingly makes laugh with some ridiculous situations. One of the funniest jokes is with Finland and Finnish language, inclusive in the credits Becky presents Alicia as a prostitute to the Finnish guys after leaning the language. I believe that people connected to fashion and fashionable outfits will enjoy this forgettable movie much more than I did. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Os Delírios de Consumo de Becky Bloom" ("The Delirium of Consumption of Becky Bloom")

This film is about a girl who cannot control her shopping spree, despite her mounting debts and sudden unemployment.

I expected "Confessions of a Shopaholic" to be a light-hearted bubblegum comedy, and it exceeded my expectations. Isla Fisher is so delightful and fun as a helpless addict. Her ways to justify shopping and to keep a blind eye on her debt is hilarious. The jokes are squeaky clean and yet they are laugh out loud funny! The constant fashion show enhance the uplifting atmosphere, making me helplessly happy and joyful.

You don't have to be a shopaholic to enjoy "Confessions of a Shopaholic", as this movie is outrageously hilarious!

I have to give credit where credit is due; "Confessions of a Shopaholic" does have some engaging moments of comedic credibility. But unfortunately not enough to provide the film with a high interest rate. "Confessions of a Shopaholic" stars the perky Isla Fisher as Rebecca Bloomwood, a full-time magazine writer who also moonlights and daylights as a full-time shopaholic. Ms. Bloomwoodgale herself persistently shops & shops and has run her credit card balances to astronomical rates. Rebecca is in denial that she has a consumer addiction even though she continues to confront many credit card denials in her shopping sprees. She inadvertently gets hired to work as a journalist in (out of all places) a financial magazine. However, her overridden goal is to work as a fashion journalist in the monarchic fashion magazine "Adelle". She starts writing columns in the financial magazine with the alias "the girl with the green scarf" on the nightmare of commercial manipulation and consumer zaniness. Yes! That is true! Is this great country or what? Oh wait, memo to self: this is a movie! Rebecca's personal list includes: a humble editor boss whom she falls for, a best friend roommate who tries to control her shopamanian ways, and parents who want to pursue their R.V. road trip dreams. Eventually and predictably, Rebecca does get herself in several hot water scenarios caused by her consumer craziness and persistent blasphemy. So therefore, she does go through the self-realization addiction process. Director P.J. Hogan's stereotypical depictions of the consumer industry did not provide me anything of originality to get all charged about. However, I must not discount the fact that I did like how he directed Isla Fisher. She was The Fisher Queen of this film with her zany but yet fervent performance; Isla is sure to have her master thespian card renewed with other comedic leading roles in the foreseeable future. However, the rest of the cast of "Confessions of a Shopaholic" are not worthy of a credit thespian increase. Screenwriter Tracey Jackson's script was not of a "laugh-it-all blue light special" material, but commendable enough for a few laughs in return. Due to our nation's economic strife, "Confessions of a Shopaholic" might not be the ideal movie to watch these days; but then again as was previously mentioned- It is a movie! So this yours truly movieholic will try to sale it to you at a moderate price. *** Average

Let me start off by saying that I'm not your typical macho male who hates everything that is even remotely resembling to a chick flick. I like a good chick flick - if it's good. Most of them are. Some are not. Confessions of a Shopaholic fall into the latter category. The movie is painfully predictable (you can literally guess what will happen next) and ridiculously not funny. The acting is poor, even though there is a number of well-renowned artists present. The fashions is more than once, more than twice absolutely disgraceful, especially for a fashion themed movie. The plot is flat and it lacks much sense. The main character is annoyingly irresponsible. The list goes on and on, but there is something more that is really frightening. The movie is basically about a person who suffers from being a shopaholic. She has actual illness, which makes her buy everything she sees on the display, which gives her an adrenaline rush. We all know that there is such thing. Nothing wrong about making a movie about it either. The problem is that this is not handled in any good way in the movie. The girl gets off easy, she barely learns her lesson and on top of everything the poor debt-collecting worker is being shown as a negative character for reasons I cannot fully understand. What's even more frightening, I can see this movie being a guideline for hundreds of women who in deed have a spending problem, who do spend more than they make and I doubt that this movie will make them rethink their actions, au contraire: they will find it as an excuse to develop their habits even further. As far as I am from preaching about the state of economy, I really thought that this movie carried a certain amount of wisdom; instead of this, I was left with a moronic picture for brain-dead. Thanks, but no thanks. If a gay guy hates a chick flick, then you know it can't be good.

"Confessions of a Shopaholic" is surprisingly tolerable and even likable, a relief to guys who look at that title and shudder at the fact that their probably going to be spending Valentines Day with their girlfriends watching it. It's a good movie though, unfortunately not the economic satire we could all use right about now, but a good movie nonetheless. It's attempts at laughs are kinda downers, as I would assume Sophie Kinsella's book of the same name went with a much wittier approach to this satire about responsible spending rather than for easy laughs. Luckily this Jerry Bruckheimer produced flick has Isla Fisher as its headliner though. Not only is she gorgeous but she will probably grow to be one of the most gifted comic actresses around.

She plays Rebecca Bloomwood, an NY sometime-journalist, all-the-time spend-freak. A store is fantastic because they can never leave you, but they can also slap you with a huge credit card bill. She's nearly $20,000 in debt and just lost her lifeline. Her hope is to land a job at a leading fashion magazine, Alette, named for its legendary founder (Kristin Scott Thomas). Only an accident leads her to working in the world of financial journalism with Luke Brandon (Hugh Dancy), the cute but shlubby-dressing workaholic editor of a savings magazine. Rebecca writing an advice column for a savings magazine is ludicrous to everyone but him. He believes she can reach people like her, and low and behold, her first article becomes a sensation. People fall in love with her honesty and a romance with Luke also develops. Just staying one step ahead of her debt proves tricky.

A lot of what makes this movie work is based around Fisher's performance. A perfect love interest in both "The Wedding Crashers" and last year's "Definitely, Maybe", she more than handles her first starring role, she owns it. She's an adorable red-head and wild comedic actress that you can't help but like. She has good chemistry with a well cast Hugh Dancy, charming as the tightly wound British editor. He reminds me of a young Colin Firth. They have a nice early scene together at a meeting of CEO's, teaching her the finer points of hard-hitting journalism and fat-cat CEO bonuses. Unfortunately the movie doesn't have more scenes like this one. The supporting cast, which includes John Lithgow, Fred Armisen, Scott Thomas, Wendie Malick, John Goodman and Joan Cusack all do what they can in small roles but the writing here isn't great.

The screenplay, by a trio of writers, bases all the laughs in broad comedy, mostly all about rabidly insane women and their shopping obsessions. It's sometimes funny, like when Rebecca ruins the progress of a support group for recovering shoppers, but soon all the talking mannequins and department store craziness just gets silly. It's an amusing little story though and while it takes a little long to finalize the romance, correct the debt, mend friendships, and learn a thing or two about financial responsibility, the themes here are identifiable and timely enough to keep interest. And director PJ Hogan avoids dumbing it down by taking a classier approach and finds affection for these characters.

"Shopaholic" is Fisher's show though and it's a solid enough piece of work to support her while she shows off her considerable skill. The movie on the other hand is something you wish were funnier but is still pretty harmless, amusing and even nice to watch. And on Valentines Day it more than fits the bill.

Where do I start... this movie was terrible! I went with my friends on Valentines day hoping for a fun chick flick. We were all so bored and annoyed with the movie that we couldn't wait for it to be over.

If you've read the book, you'll be distracted by how different the movie is. They took a good concept and pretty much ruined it. There is a lot of overacting/squealing/screaming, characters that pop in and out, and laughable, cheesy drama at the end. To wrap it up, there are even creepy mannequins. While the movie is packed with good actors and actresses, their talent isn't utilized in this silly, overworked script.

Invest your $10 in the book... it's much better!

"Confessions of a Shopaholic" is a chick flick romcom that you can take your daughter to see. You can take your mother to see it. Heck, you can take grandma. It's rated PG. No f-bombs. No naked people. No gun play.

Isla Fisher plays Rebecca Bloomfield, a journalist with an addiction to shopping. She gets into very deep debt. Kind of like our nation has done recently and is continuing to do. Not that this movie is intended to be any kind of political metaphor. It's just a cute and funny movie which any of us, male or female, can relate to---if we've ever accumulated too big a balance on our credit cards. (I know that I could've used a bailout a few times in my life!)

While the script provides some decent laughs, I loved Isla Fisher's physical comedy. She's good.

Hugh Dancy as the male lead was okay. But I'll leave the critique of his work to a female poster.

Always fun to see actors and actresses who you like but haven't seen on screen that much lately and "Shopaholic" has a few. Like Julie "Airplane" Hagerty and Wendy "Just Shoot Me/Dream On" Malick. Kristin Scott-Thomas, John Lithgow and, yes, Lynn Redgrave. Not to mention Joan Cusack and John Goodman as Rebecca's mom and dad.

For me, this is way more entertaining than last week's chick flick (the one which I'm just not that into). Even though that one had more star power, this one is the better movie, I think.

I watch a lot of films. I'll watch anything from a slasher fest to some weird arty film that videos bookshelves (well almost).

Last year I pretty much watched every romantic comedy in existence, as that is all my (male) house-mate would watch. I'll watch anything but I've seen enough to know the dire ones (well, we all have our own opinions).

I really enjoyed this film. Maybe it is because I expected it to be really awful. Maybe I got seduced by the good cast. Or I really am a secret girly girl and just thought all the shopping was fabulous.

But seriously, how did this get _that_bad an IMDb rating? I mean, I actually thought it was better than the Devil Wears Prada, which I thought was a bit of a let down. OK, the script is not original but it doesn't contain any big clangers and it doesn't try to hard. There is no wooden acting. No moments of cringe worthy awfulness, and some good cast chemistry. No, if you want to see a bad big-budget rom-com I still maintain Wimbledon is awful. Paul Bettany and Kirsten Dunst looked completely indifferent to one another.

As for being disappointed about books. Sheesh. If you love a book never go see a movie (e.g. Atonement) or accept it is going to be completely different.

Confessions is utterly predictable, but the characters and actors are kooky in a lovable non-Oscar lusting way. Its like cheap chocolate-you know it has hardly any rich content but you keep going back.

F*** it. I really like this movie. Not quite as much as Fight Club or Dawn of the Dead, but its moving up there. Seriously.

Now if only they'd do a sequel involving Christina Ricci and a load of blood...

Being a non-shopper, I can hardly call myself expert on the parsing of a shopaholic in Confessions of a Shopaholic. But this I can say: Rebecca Bloomwood (Isla Fisher) is an addict of major proportions, unable to let go of the exhilaration that shopping brings, a feeling that the world is better for her purchases.

The film is a cliché from the get go, as corny as could possibly be about 25 year old writer Rebecca with the shopping affliction who eventually meets her dream man through a series of subterfuges that would make Melanie Griffith's Tess in Working Girl proud. What saves the film from my scourge, which did not spare the recent Pink Panther 2, is Isla Fisher, who plays dangerous innocence with sincerity and fresh-facedness that makes even Anne Hathaway's Devil Wears Prada role seem downright Machiavellian.

Confessions has this going for it: Although it is not a Judd Apatow comedy with some layers of sophisticated social comedy, it has moments of laughter and social conscience. Coming as it does amidst the worst recession in decades, in which shopping would be a welcome antidote to the fear of spending that exacerbates the recession, Confessions almost makes a case for credit spending; then again maybe such encouragement is not a good thing for shopaholics.

Confessions Of A Shopaholic is a chick flick NO DOUBT! but it has been quite some time since we had a decent chick flick on d big screen..

The movie has a good narration and corny dialogues and a exponential growth in the characterization of the Protagonist. The movie's antagoinist are all the shops...

The plot is well developed and portrayed really well, and the movie is steers in the right direction with an awesome soundtrack. The Movie is enjoyable for all ages and gender and if u want a chiller.. this is juz ur movie...

MY VERDICT: WORTH A WATCH!

Can't believe i rewatched this several times just to see Hugh's part. He was so charming, many cringey scenes suddenly didn't seem that cringey at all

Shopaholic Rebecca Bloomwood (Fisher) looks to settle in at a money magazine as her shopping bills pile up.

After some charmingly weird performances in Wedding Crashers, Definitely, Maybe and Wedding Daze, Isla Fisher secures her first major lead role as cooky Bloomwood, the symbol of shopping, the girl who simply has to have everything that she sees. That cutting edge charm in the star's previous roles is frequently present but with a tried and tested formulaic plot that charm is always hanging in mid air.

This isn't a star driven film, and with an ordinary story and hardly any humour you wonder what the purpose is. It juggles the addiction of shopping and over-dramatic central character too much to balance specifically on either entertainment or drama.

Based on Sophie Kinsella's best selling novels, Confessions is designed to appeal to people who simply were born to shop and enjoy spending money without considering those disastrous consequences. So cue all recent high street sellers names add in awkward spurts of humour and encode a tried and tested narrative and you have your typical story for the current fashion industry. And at a time of a certain credit crunch, what's better to remind yourself of the people who have money to spend? So here you have the potential to convey current political issues and show disastrous ramifications and amazingly, this does not. Rebecca finds a job and soon she is the talk of the town and she is single so a romantic interest is thrown in, as is the challenge of a new job and everything starts to escalate on exactly the same day and she is in trouble etc.

It's hard not to be surprised by how ordinary this film actually is. The trailer says it all. Though the book is based on an English girl's addiction, the film is an American adaptation and you get the feeling if this was a British film there would be more dramatic consequences and a more realistic and surprising turn of the problem rather than this frankly boring take.

My friend who forced me to see this film with him was laughing beside me, at how bad this was. However I found it so bad and such a waste of money, that I couldn't even do that. Confessions of a Shopaholic is your typical story wrapped around touchy subject that is undeveloped, inaccurate and down right poor.

"Confessions of a Shopaholic" really isn't a good story. I had known enough to stay away from the books. It is also, though, light, frivolous fun.

The starting scenes are a lot of fun with Rebecca (Isla Fisher) eyeing the magic of credit cards, and then store mannequins telling her what to buy. It has a great pace especially with the frenetic dashings to get away from the debt collector. It is a simple story and they know that, so they advance it quickly and keep it fun.

The issues with the film is that perhaps they take credit card debt too lightly, but hey, this is supposed to be an escape film. Remember that it's supposed to be an escape film because it of course can be too hard to believe that Rebecca gets a job writing financial advice. The jokes at times get drawn out too much, so it's not as funny as I would have hoped.

All in all, Isla Fisher is a joy to watch, and if you allow yourself to gloss over its flaws, then "Confessions of a Shopaholic" is enjoyable.

What we have here is the modern fairy-tale of Rebecca (played by Isla Fisher, a dependable comic actress). Rebecca is a dizzy, selfish, irresponsible creature but people love her because of her bubbly personality and super-cute face.

Rebecca is deep in debt because she buys too much stuff for herself, and when she gets fired she must accept a boring job in a financial magazine to keep her from bankruptcy She gets the job merely on the strength of her looks, because Luke, the guy who hires her, knows from the start that she is a liar.

It is very clear that this story has nothing to do with real life, but another level of implausibility is added when we discover that Luke (played by Hugh Dancy) not only is the editor of the financial magazine, but also the heir of a rich family.

Could this be another Cinderella-revisited? Yes and no, because Cinderella was a likable character. Rebecca, not so much. She lies to her parents, her friends and her employer, She is an addict in denial and totally unreliable. But still, that bubbly personality and perky figure will save the day for her.

Once her lies are discovered, she manages to repay her debt by auctioning her wardrobe and, in a mean twist, repaying her debt in coins so as to annoy even more the bill collector. The collector was only doing his job and I believe all of us, in his place, would have been thoroughly annoyed by Rebecca's behavior.

In the movie Rebecca is presented as the cute heroine, who not only save herself on her own, without borrowing from her parents or from her rich boyfriend, but also get offered the job of her dreams – at a Vogue-like magazine – only to turn it down, because she stands on higher grounds than advertising expensive stuff.

That is the part that I found more ridiculous and offensive: the fact that a liar like Rebecca is painted as if she has "higher moral standard" than anybody around her… Oh, and she even gets the rich prince, at the end.

I confess. I fell for the Shopaholic. Isla Fisher is charming, funny, adorably goofy yet undeniably attractive. You can't help but notice her uncanny resemblance to Enchanted's Amy Adams, which is not a bad thing at all, yet she still maintains the same unique kookiness we all enjoyed in her role as Vince Vaughn's equal in The Wedding Crashers. The incredible job on the CGI'd mannequins, done by Lucasfilms' Industrial Light & Magic, is also worth mentioning.

You're not supposed to go into the movie expecting it to be the next epic Titanic love story. You're expecting it to be goofy and sentimental yet genuine and entertaining, and it was all those things.

Confessions of a Shopaholic is a rare gem that's worth the guilty swipe of a maximized credit card.

Rebecca Bloomwood (Isla Fisher) grew up in a household where her two parents (Joan Cusack and John Goodman) looked for bargains at every opportunity. That meant getting ugly brown shoes, as a little girl, instead of more desirable ones, for example. Now a grown-up journalist, Rebecca just can't resist shopping for what she never had, designer clothes, accessories and the like. Yet, her salary does not even begin to cover her expenditures and she winds up with a $16,000 credit card bill! Fortunately, her roommate Suze lets her delay payments on rent for their apartment. Learning of a more lucrative job at Allette, a Vogue-type magazine that Rebecca worships, the pretty young scribe heads off to the magazine's headquarters. But, the position she aspired to has just been filled by a someone else. However, a monetary journal published by the same team IS looking for someone to write columns on saving more of the green stuff. The handsome manager, Luke (Hugh Dancy) asks Rebecca for a sample of work and likes what he reads. But, is shop-till-I-drop Rebecca really suited to give others advice on how to stash some cash? This is a cute little film that will please most fans of romantic comedy. Fisher is a total delight as the spend-crazy writer while Dancy, Cusack, Goodman, and the rest of the cast members back her up nicely. Naturally, the costumes are terrific, with Rebecca and others looking great at every turn. Also, the Manhattan setting is good, as are the film's script, direction, and productions values. Therefore, all of you moviegoers who adore humorous stories of love should spring for some tickets to see this flick. Most viewers will be ready to confess that it was a very pleasant way to spend a couple of hours, after any showing.

Amazing how overly sensitive Hollywood can be - sometimes. Like when the Challenger shuttle blew up - you pulled the release of Spacecamp (1986), a movie about a space shuttle disaster. After the 9/11 attacks, you pulled Collateral Damage (2002).

But, when dealing with the Recession/Depression/Credit Crunch, something affecting tens of millions of families all over the world, causing debt, unemployment, homelessness, misery, a problem that will be ongoing for years, will you think about pulling a movie about a brainless bimbo who goes off and spends far more than she could possibly afford, on something as trivial and pointless as clothes and accessories? No. And why? Because despite churning out unfunny SNL alumni films and pointless remakes of movies and TV shows and bombastic Michael Bey explogasms, none of which people really want to see, you're still going to be in your jobs, driving around in your air-conditioned SUVs chugging down double iced mocha-choca-caffine frappacinos while ignoring the teeming masses on the pavements living in cardboard condos holding up signs saying Will Work For Food. Gee, I wish I was a movie executive.