CONFESSIONS OF A SHOPAHOLIC - 8/10 (B+)

Highly enjoyed this! Isla Fisher is adorable and Hugh Dancy is sexy as hell. A very cute, entertaining movie.

Isla Fisher is adorable and bubbly as Confessions of a Shopaholic's heroine, but she can't save the movie itself from being mostly stale and mediocre. The movie has no particular identity, as it constantly feels like it's aping The Devil Wears Prada or Sex and the City. Every character is sketchily developed at best, including Rebecca. And the romance with Hugh Dancy falls completely flat. But the movie does contain a certain charm as a result of Fisher...she powers through even when the rest of the movie is letting her down. With a less gifted actress in the lead role, this movie would've been torturous. Instead, it's mostly just blah. C

am i the only person on earth who actually watched Confessions of a Shopaholic instead of a manifested hybrid of misguided expectations that everyone created in their head? Honestly I think you all saw the preview and decided it would be something, and then ignored what you watched and assumed it was what you had already created in your mind. And not just you, nearly every critic too.

I don't say something like this very often, but I can't believe that these people who claim the movie is stale and the characters are sketchy were watching the same film I was. If you were you should have realized this is not only one of the most entertaining and fun movies this year, but one of the best pieces of cinema overall in the year as well.

what are you talking about?

see the previous page, lots of people agree with you (including me)..

Huh? I can't believe you're saying this to me of all people, as I'm known around here as a whore for chick flicks. This one just isn't very good. And this is coming from someone who enjoyed the book...the film was a poor adaptation.

I think this was a C+ sort of movie as well, and I love movies like this usually. Completely agree with Libs, the film kept relying on Isla to pick up the slack.

Can't believe the person that directed this, also directed one of my favourite films or all time, Muriel's Wedding.

I'll say a C.

I thought it was really by the numbers and quite insultingly predictable. I think I only laughed out loud twice.

Isla Fisher saved the day, if not this would have been a D or F.

Skip the film, just watch the trailer.

No offense, but I find that funny . I'll go with one of the most entertaining of the year though, at this point. It's nothing GREAT, but it's very fun. And I disagree about Isla and Hugh having no chemistry. I thought they were great together.

am I the only sane person on earth?

Dude, it's a movie about a chick who shops a lot. Relax.

first of all libs, darling, please don't say dude. It's just not right.
Second, its so much more than that, and the fact that I'm the only one who picked up on this fact is really getting to me.

I'm all for analyzing the deep metaphors behind chick flicks (I mean, not really, but you catch my drift) but there really isn't "so much more than that" with this movie. It's based on chick lit. There is nothing deep or profound about it.

Like, what else is there to this film? You're acting like you're some genius because you recognize the incredible meaning behind Confessions of a Shopaholic that no one else sees. Are you joking?

Not that this is No Country for Old Men, but I don't think it's totally empty either. As I mentioned in my review I think there's some interesting reversals from usual Hollywood/romantic comedies trends, partaining to male and female roles. Even to the point where someone could write an interest "feminist progression" analysis on it. Female pure comedy leads or romcoms from the female perspective alone are uber rare.. In this case of course Fisher also destroys Dancy on the screen, he's not even in her shadow, a total afterthought. No other mainstream film this year has been lopsided to the female lead like this, not even close

In the plot, her character cares more about shopping, herself, and her career than any man searching - again this is totally unheard of in the modern romcom. They even advertised this as one of the main jokes in the trailer. In that "man-like" office career she has massive success and rises above all her male counterparts (the worldwide height of her success is almost satirical), in a guised writing role that has specifically nothing to do with her looks, with everything owing to her brain, intelligence, and talent. Then while this movie is filled with romcom conventions, they're all gender reversed. For eg. the "Man is lieing to girl. Girl finds out, cries and runs away. Man 'shapes up' and gets on his feet, comes up with a cunning plan, and wins her back", or Ebert's Idiot Complex, shows up here... with him as the crying baby and her as the shaping up idiot. Dancy's character also doesn't even appear in the 3rd act when her life goes to shambles and she has to fix it.. normally of course he'd be the shining hero. Here it's all her

Maybe they director or writer didn't even realize these things, but who knows, maybe they did. In any case in the context of modern, mainstream romcoms it takes some steps we don't see often. Or at least a lot more than The Proposal or something

Entertainment Weekly gave it an A-, so they saw the genius of it .

I'll admit the movie can be clever. It's not totally mindless. There's a brain in here. It's just not great cinema. That doesn't mean it's not highly, highly enjoyable. I stopped buying a lot of movies right away when they come out on DVD (and have been cutting back on my buying movies in general - in that sense I actually found her shopping addiction relatable - because I have/had an addiction to buying movies. I'm even having a big sale this summer and selling ones I don't "need"), but I'll admit I was tempted to buy this movie. It's very cute. I will eventually add it to my collection.

Well the conviction was more the problem here.

Okay, now I feel like an ass cause it's clear I gave the impression that I'm superior and you all are idiots for not seeing what I did. That wasn't my intention, I wasn't trying to declare my own genius or implicate that anyone is dumb for not thinking what I do. I just found a lot to this film and am surprised/annoyed that I'm the only one (yes there are some positive comments but even those just say its fun and cute)
I can get in to everything I see about it later (although i haven't seen it in months...) but right now its late and I just wanted to issue my apology. I'll continue this argument, hopefully in a more polite and less superior manner, tomorrow.

don't fucking insult Libs you fucking prick.

This was a rather retarded film, making a comedy out of what is actually a pretty sad situation (addiction to shopping). I could look past this if it had even been a passable comedy or a romcom. But it's sadly not even that.

Then again:

Then why call us idiots?

John Savage, you just been gangbanged by snack, getluv and lecter (not even a homosexual) in three consecutive posts for three different offenses.

I think they call this "getting served"

lol, that was pretty impressive.
I disregard any insult from the former two seeing as insults are just a form of communication to you, but Lecter pretty much bitch slapped me with words right there and it kind of stings.

am I allowed to retract statements from the past, or will that haunt me forever.