Confessions of a Shopaholic – A Movie Review

This P. J. Hogan romantic comedy released in 2009, it revolves around a young, vivacious girl named – Rebecca Bloomwood who’s simply crazy about shopping the finest clothes, hand bags, shoes, accessories, and just everything that has a high brand’s label on it.

Starring Isla Fisher as Rebecca Bloomwood and Hugh Dancy as the love of her life – Luke Brandon, this one hundred and four minute movie will do an excellent job in introducing everyone to the world of huge shopping and big shoppers – where pricey dazzling things behind the glass allure every beholder; where glitziness and luxurious commodities make people of all classes turn greedy; where not just items but dreams are also sold, and a world where people like Rebecca are found.

She lives in one of the most expensive cities of the world – New York and grows up seeing people purchasing costly items, no matter whether they need them or not. The movie begins showing a young middle class girl who herself reveals the story of her life by differentiating between ‘shine price’ and ‘mom’s price’. She believes ‘shine price’ is the huge price that can buy anyone something beautiful and sparkling which lasts only for three weeks but ‘mom’s price’ buys one something which is sober, cheap, ugly but yet, highly durable. She develops a craving for the things that have a ‘shine price’ on them. When she comes of age and becomes capable of holding, in her words, a ‘magic card’ or a credit card, she literally freaks out.

She starts preferring shopping to dating and baubles to young men. She begins to find herself completely out of control on seeing a SALE sign on designer wear and is helpless in controlling her urge to shop.

But due to her spendthrift nature, soon she finds herself late in paying bills and is indebted to many people. She hides her bills under her pillow and starts turning into a pauper. She decides to get a job for herself for meeting  her expenses.

Therefore, she writes an article for Allete magazine but accidentally posts it to Successful Saving mag and gets a nod of approval from Luke Brandon – the investigative journalist of the mag. He hires her for writing a column in the mag. She writes another article after feeling disappointed on buying a shawl from some sale which does not turn out to be cent percent cashmere. The article brings her a huge success after which all her columns begin to be published under the name of ‘The Girl in the Green Scarf’ – a name given to her by her admirer, Luke.

People welcome her as a ‘breath of fresh air’ and appreciate the saving skills she preaches, which although, she does not practice in real life.

In the later half of the movie, an unfortunate encounter of Rebecca with her debt collector – Derek Smith, on a TV interview, makes her lose the job when he accuses her of not paying her debts in time. So she finds herself back at her parent’s home. She’s made to join a club, especially meant for those people who are shopping addicts, by Suze – her best friend. But when mistakenly she sells off her bridesmaid outfit, dearly chosen for her by Suze, it makes Rebecca lose her best friend too.

Poor Rebecca haplessly gets overburdened with a gigantic heap of problems, all at once. Does she cleverly find her way out of these tangles in life? Does she become successful in paying off all her debts? Does she find herself a suitable job again? Does she successfully reconcile with her lover and Suze again? Does she get one more chance to make her parents feel proud of her like never before? And most importantly, is she able to control her urge to shop?

From the beginning to the end, this movie has strictly followed the linearity of time, action and place. It has a lot of surprise in store for a happy ending and is suitable for viewers of all ages. Mostly shot in New York but partly in Miami too, it picturesquely captures the beaches of Miami as well as the busy streets of New York in the best possible way. It also has many foot-tapping and joyful numbers as the background score. The movie portrays the city of New York in the season of winter when all the rich and trendy people flaunt their furs and footwear giving a complex to most of us. It is a must watch for those who want to control their spree in shopping as well as for those who need to get trendy this winter season.

Aditi Swami

(6 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

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