Review of Confessions of a Shopaholic (2009) by Michael J M — 01 Feb 2010

Not near as cute or funny as it should be, Confessions instead resigns itself to relying on cheap laughs (which aren't that funny) and relatively boring and dry jokes about how women love shopping (how original). The film tries to be humorous in an awkward sense by drumming up plenty of "Murphy's Law" moments, but they all seem so forced they just fall flat. Much longer than it should be, the film drags on in these kind of moments and is so utterly predictable it's hard to find anything of substance anywhere. Even the love story, which should be heartfelt and subtle seems tacked on as Isla Fisher's love interest falls for a hot model, but not really, but kind of, but just kidding... gotcha!

It's the way the movie treats the audience as being stupid that really makes Shopaholic fall flat on its face. And for a movie about fashion and shopping, would it have been so hard to get a wardrobe for Ms. Fisher that actually fits and looks fashionable? As it is, her character wanders around the screen looking so much like a messed-up bed that you actually feel sorry for her, and only when she finally gets a jacket destroyed and takes it off does the adorably cute and usually fabulous Isla Fisher look as stunning as she should every moment in a strapless black dress, but by the next scene she is back in another outfit which should be cute but is covered up by another jacket. It's almost as if fashion labels were fighting to get anything they could on the main character in this movie, and so her outfits end up looking like hasty conglomerations rather than something constructed by a shopping addict.

I had so much hope for this movie, but as it stands it just ends up being a mess of things that could-have-been pieces of a great movie.