Isla Fisher stars as self-proclaimed journalist Rebecca Bloomwood. Tired of her undesirable job at a gardening magazine, Rebecca jumps at the opportunity to indulge her fashion cravings at Alette. After learning that her dream job has been filled, a helpful receptionist points her in the direction of the less glamorous publication, Successful Savings, which would bring her one step closer to fashion heaven. To say that her interview goes horribly would be putting it mildly. To add salt to the wound, Rebecca finds out that the magazine she currently works for is going under, leaving her unemployed with a $900 credit card bill.
After her failed interview, Rebecca and her annoyingly chipper roommate, Suze (Krysten Ritter), bust out the alcohol in preparation for adding up the enormous debt accumulated by Rebecca’s credit cards. The girls get more intoxicated as the night progresses, giggling like fools as the festivities culminate in Rebecca’s writing two letters: one to impress Alette magazine and a scornful one to Successful Savings editor Luke Brandon (Hugh Dancy). By some twist of fate, the letters get mixed up. The next day, Brandon calls about her brilliant insights into the world of finance and offers her a job on the spot.
The only thing more ludicrous than a woman with a debt of over $16,000 — via shopping addiction — working at a financial magazine is her use of shopping metaphors to explain economics to the common consumer. However unlikely it may be, Rebecca becomes an overnight sensation with her revolutionary article penned under the alias “The Girl in the Green Scarf.” During her abrupt rise to fame, she can do no wrong: From insulting the window display of a well-known bank to slapping a Finnish man across the face, Rebecca is regarded as a breath of fresh air, unafraid to speak the truth. The irony is that she’s lying to everyone about her current financial situation.
Falling prey to Rebecca’s vivaciousness is her dreamy editor, Luke Brandon, who turns out to be the son of a famous New York socialite. Coincidentally, he is also loaded, although he wants nothing more than to make a name for himself on his own terms. Brandon’s unconventional decision in hiring Rebecca pays off when her column becomes internationally famous. As a reward, the two are invited to a company gathering in Miami, where Rebecca seduces Brandon during a Latin dance, complete with a fan and over-the-top (but funny) moves.
Now that she has a stable job and a possible love interest, Rebecca’s main problem is dealing with her outstanding debt. Rather than attempting to remedy the situation, she goes on spending like there’s no tomorrow. She is simply unable to suppress her urge to swipe her maxed-out credit cards, despite their being, you know, maxed-out. As a result, the relentless bill collector, Derek Smeath (Robert Stanton), comes knocking on Rebecca’s door, forcing her to invent elaborate excuses to dodge him — even accusing him of stalking her to keep up the charade at work. After all the trouble Rebecca goes through to avoid paying her bill, Smeath manages to confront her and demands payment in one of the most cringe-inducing scenes in the movie.
The most disappointing aspect of the movie is director P.J. Hogan’s inability to put a noteworthy cast of actors to good use. Isla Fisher fails to live up to her previous comedic role in “Wedding Crashers” and has no apparent chemistry with Dancy, causing the romance to fall a bit flat. Joan Cusack and John Goodman do the best they can with the little they have to work with as Rebecca’s parents; appearances by Kristen Scott Thomas as fashionista Alette Naylor and John Lithgow as financial tycoon Edgar West are welcome distractions, however short-lived they may be.
Despite the delicious eye candy provided by Dancy (did I mention he has a British accent?), “Confessions of a Shopaholic” is spectacularly unimpressive thanks to a bubble-headed heroine blundering her way through an uninspired and predictable script. It wasn’t even halfway through the film that I began to hope for a mercifully quick ending that didn’t come nearly fast enough. “Confessions of a Shopaholic” attempts to follow in the footsteps of past hits such as “Sex and the City” and “The Devil Wears Prada” yet contains none of the clever humor and emotional depth integral to both movies