~by Dena Burroughs

CONFESSIONS OF A SHOPAHOLIC - Film review

   If the country were not in an economic crisis, perhaps more of us would identify with the protagonist of Confessions of a Shopaholic, the comedy film opening today at theaters.  Our reality is that the days of purchasing $400 shoes or daring into a Rodeo Drive store at a whim are gone.  That does not mean, however, that we do not enjoy seeing Isla Fisher, as Rebecca Bloomwood, going in and out of Prada and Saint Yves Laurent stores buying shiny purses and green scarves. 

   Fisher plays a journalist whose payroll cannot keep up with her spending habits.  Just when her life hits rock bottom, circumstances align in a way they do only in movies - she gets a job writing for a financial magazine, meets the man of her life, and goes through financial metamorphosis.

   Fisher’s performance is enjoyable in all the fun parts, although not quite credible as a serious journalist.  The audience responds well to her delivery of humor and to the physical comedy of actors Joan Cusack and John Goodman, playing her parents.

   Perhaps the funniest scenes happen while Bloomwood and her boss, played by Hugh Dancy, attempt to Salsa dance.  Fisher moves hilariously to songs like Orlando “Maraca” Valle’s "Descarga Total," "Mangos" performed by Machito y sus Afro-Cubans, "El Baile del Abanico" performed by The Rene Camacho Band, and "Tumbao Cubano," by the Cuban All-Stars Big Band.  Curiously, none of these songs made it into the movie soundtrack.

   Confessions of a Shopaholic is a feel-good movie; definitely what one would call a chick flick.  While it touches on the serious matter of spending addiction and credit card abuse, and we see the main character experience a financial epiphany, whether the viewers will learn from her example or go straight from the theater to shop is still out with the jury.