Confessions of a Shopaholic
A light hearted and relatable portrayal of a girl
who truly believes that an accessory can change her life.
Before I divulge into my take of the cinematic portrayal of Sophie Kinsella’s famous book series Confessions of a Shopaholic, I think I have a confession to make myself. My name is Johnna Moretti, and I am a shopaholic. That’s right; I am a sale hounding, shiny store window obsessed, full fledged shopaholic. Rebecca Bloomwood, meet your doppelganger, Johnna Moretti. So I joined the legions of women who fell in love with Miss Bloomwood’s shopping peril’s in the original book series, because I too saw a piece of myself in her hopeless love affair with retail. And I can say with the utmost confidence that director PJ Hogan and actress Isla Fisher, truly brought charm and relatability into this unsung heroine who completely understands the life changing power that comes with buying a new outfit.
When we first meet Rebecca Bloomwood, she is an unhappy journalist struggling to obtain her dream position as a writer for the high fashion magazine, Alette. Her shopping addiction is made evidently clear to the audience as we see her try to convince herself and friends that someone had stolen her Mastercard after realizing she had spent $900 dollars in one month. She frequently falls under the fashion thrall of talking store window mannequins and she almost buys 97 hotdogs just to get an extra twenty dollars in her pocket. After losing her job, Rebecca is unemployed and faced with over sixteen thousand dollars in debt.
Forced to take a job at a financial planning magazine, Rebecca makes a name for herself as “The Girl with the Green Scarf.” She uses her retail and fashion expertise by comparing complex financial planning terms to basic shopping principles. After all, what better way to explain cost and worth to a fashion hounding public than with a Gucci shoe analogy? Despite her career successes, she is still struggling with her credit card debt, including avoiding a particularly vicious debt collector, Derek Smeath. Broken legs, sick aunts, and a bought with malaria are only some of the excuses Rebecca and her friends give the relentless Smeath. He eventually finds Rebecca’s place of employment and in an attempt to hide her debt from her financially savvy co-workers, she claims Smeath is a psycho ex-boyfriend who is stalking her.
The lies surrounding Rebecca’s financial situation deepen as she develops feelings for her financially astute boss, Luke Brandon. Soon her shopping habits begin to threaten the inner workings of Rebecca’s love and social life as she is forced to make a choice between her addiction to shopping and her relationships with her friends and family. The audience is reminded of the eventual toll that shopping and extreme self indulgence can take. We begin to see Rebecca’s life turn around as she begins to resist the overwhelming need to shop.
Admittedly, the movie is far from Oscar winning. The plot is predictable and the jokes are slightly unoriginal. However, the light hearted take on a shopaholics eventual turnaround, is received as a welcome break from our own financial worries in a less than perfect economy. The audience is able to laugh at Rebecca’s struggles with her new mantra “Do I really need this?” because like much of the audience, I too have grappled with this very battle between want and need. Ultimately, the movie sends a sense of hope to its audience as Rebecca’s Dad reminds us all, ‘if the American economy can be billions in debt and still survive, so can you.”
And for all you men out there who blanch when their girlfriends/wives bring up the idea of watching this movie…never fear. Ed Helms, (aka Andy from The Office) and John Goodman bring enough comedic relief that stirred more than a few chuckles from my boyfriend. I highly recommend this movie to anyone who feels alone in their overwhelming financial worries. This movie is a light hearted, two hour escape from the constraints of our own wallet and for a confessed shopaholic like me; it reminded me that 9 out of 10 times, the best things in your life can’t be found in a store.
No comments:
Post a Comment