Spring Break
'Confessions of a Shopaholic' equals glitzy box-office fun
Chloe Thompson
Issue date: 2/18/09 Section: Entertainment
02/18/09 - Valentine's Day was the perfect day to declare my love - for shopping, that is.
And what better way to scream to the world that credit cards turn my heart aflutter than to see "Confessions of a Shopaholic" on the Hallmark holiday?
As an avid reader of the Shopaholic series (Yes, the movie was based on a book) by Sophie Kinsella, I was eager to see how she would transform materialistic, self-absorbed Becky Bloomwood from the pages to the cinema.
She did not disappoint.
From the opening scene of poor little Bloomwood pining for the pretty sparkly Mary Janes instead of her bargain brown loafers, to the end scene where ... well, I won't wreck it for you, but it involves a sneaky auction ploy, with Bloomwood's novel personality played out fabulously.
True, she's a New Yorker, not a Londoner, and she starts out working at a gardening magazine instead of Successful Savings, but the Bloomwood attitude and spunk is definitely there. And "If I Was a Rich Girl" blaring from a cell phone shines through just a bit better on the big screen.
Isla Fisher, who plays Bloomwood in the film, charms the audience as an inquisitive, blunt and klutzy (at one point she hits love interest Luke Brandon a.k.a. British hunk Hugh Dancy in the eye with a fan during a "sexy" dance move) redhead, destined to find all the designer sample sales in the world.
Bloomwood, who is about $16,000 in debt after rationalizing purchase after purchase, is really hoping to land a job at the top fashion magazine Allette, but after a drunken (and hilarious) mix-up, she winds up sending a story about shoes to Successful Savings, instead of the editor of Allette. The editor (Brandon) somehow discerns that she is discussing financial business instead of high-heeled pumps, and offers her a job.
What ensues is Bloomwood - who in fact does not speak fluent Finnish, nor has any real financial experience, as her resume might suggest - flubbing up, but miraculously saving herself, whether that involves psychoanalyzing her boss, being spoon-fed questions about kickbacks or calling her debt collector Derek Smeath her "crazy stalker ex-boyfriend."
And what better way to scream to the world that credit cards turn my heart aflutter than to see "Confessions of a Shopaholic" on the Hallmark holiday?
As an avid reader of the Shopaholic series (Yes, the movie was based on a book) by Sophie Kinsella, I was eager to see how she would transform materialistic, self-absorbed Becky Bloomwood from the pages to the cinema.
She did not disappoint.
From the opening scene of poor little Bloomwood pining for the pretty sparkly Mary Janes instead of her bargain brown loafers, to the end scene where ... well, I won't wreck it for you, but it involves a sneaky auction ploy, with Bloomwood's novel personality played out fabulously.
True, she's a New Yorker, not a Londoner, and she starts out working at a gardening magazine instead of Successful Savings, but the Bloomwood attitude and spunk is definitely there. And "If I Was a Rich Girl" blaring from a cell phone shines through just a bit better on the big screen.
Isla Fisher, who plays Bloomwood in the film, charms the audience as an inquisitive, blunt and klutzy (at one point she hits love interest Luke Brandon a.k.a. British hunk Hugh Dancy in the eye with a fan during a "sexy" dance move) redhead, destined to find all the designer sample sales in the world.
Bloomwood, who is about $16,000 in debt after rationalizing purchase after purchase, is really hoping to land a job at the top fashion magazine Allette, but after a drunken (and hilarious) mix-up, she winds up sending a story about shoes to Successful Savings, instead of the editor of Allette. The editor (Brandon) somehow discerns that she is discussing financial business instead of high-heeled pumps, and offers her a job.
What ensues is Bloomwood - who in fact does not speak fluent Finnish, nor has any real financial experience, as her resume might suggest - flubbing up, but miraculously saving herself, whether that involves psychoanalyzing her boss, being spoon-fed questions about kickbacks or calling her debt collector Derek Smeath her "crazy stalker ex-boyfriend."
