Book to Film Review: Confessions of a Shopaholic

About the film

Confessions of a Shopaholic is a comedy film which is based on the book of the same name by Sophie Kinsella. It is rated PG and has a runtime of 104 minutes. The film was released in February 2009. I haven’t read the book so I didn’t have anything to go on before watching the film.

Plot

Rebecca Bloomwood is a journalist for a garden magazine and a shopaholic living in New York. All she has ever wanted was to work for a top fashion magazine.

On the way to an interview for a job at fashion magazine, Rebecca is drawn towards a sale and just can’t help herself. There's an amazing green scarf that she wants but most of her cards are already maxed. She meets Luke Brandon on the street while trying to get the $20 she's short and he gives it to her just so he can’t get his hotdog. When she gets to the fashion magazine she finds out the job has already been filled by an extremely beautiful blonde.

Her and her friend Suze gets really drunk that night and she ends up writing 1 letter to the fashion magazine and 1 to Luke Brandon, who's an editor of a financial magazine but they get mixed up which results in Rebecca getting a job....but not the one she wanted.

Although Rebecca is in a lot of debt herself, she ends up being quite successful at helping people sort out their own debt. No one else knows about her debt and the debt collector who's chasing her. Rebecca is getting even more successful at work while every other aspect of her life is going downhill including her friendship with Suze and her new relationship with Luke.

When the truth about Rebecca’s debts threatens to be revealed, she must do everything possible to sort her life out. 

What I thought

As I said before, I haven’t read this book but I did thoroughly enjoy this film. Maybe I would have had different feelings towards it though had I read the book beforehand. I know a fair few people who have read it and said that the film is nowhere near as good as the book.

Isla Fisher is really the only well-known actor in the movie and even then, she is probably only well-known to people who used to watch Home and Away. Playing protagonist Rebecca, Fisher does a great job. I thought she played her part really well and was quite funny. The situations that Rebecca gets herself into require Fisher to be silly and have fun which can’t be a bad thing for a job. She had my giggling a lot, especially at the part where she tries dancing with Luke in Miami. It’s great to see someone making a fool out of themselves.

I wasn’t the biggest fan of Hugh Dancy who plays love interest Luke. His character was pretty boring for the most part and I couldn’t really see what Rebecca saw in him apart from the fact that he had money. However, my dislike of him was more down to the script and the plot rather than the actor’s abilities. Had the script been better for Luke and funnier in places, I think I probably would have liked him a lot more. Dancy did have good on-screen chemistry with Fisher though so it wasn’t all bad when it came to him.

Secondary characters in this film were quite surprising. John Goodman and Joan Cusack play Rebecca’s mum and dad and this was some genius casting. Although these characters aren’t featured too much, they are a great addition to the cast and every moment they were on screen was great. Krysten Ritter plays Rebecca’s best friend Suze and again, this was great casting. Ritter has been in other comedies such as What Happens in Vegas and she really does have amazing comedic timing. Her character was quirky and fun but was able to be sensible at the same time which made her likeable.

The film also had a lot of 'feel good' moments and of course it had a happy ending. Confessions of a Shopaholic has a wonderful mix of comedy mixed in with a good message about being able to manage your finances, which I think is very important especially in today’s financial climate. I have my own credit card debts which I am desperately trying to get rid of so I could connect with the plot of this film quite easily.

Confessions of a Shopaholic is definitely a chick flick and I don’t think too many guys would like this one. Now that I’ve seen the film I would really like to read these books and see what the differences are.