INSTEP Magzine

For anyone who has read Sophie Kinsella's bestseller Shopaholic series, the news that a film based on the first book of the series - Confessions of a Shopaholic - came as great news.

It took the trailer to dampen any hopes of this being a good film ala Bridget Jones' Diary's brilliant cinematic adaptation.

It takes the film to make one wish they'd never read the books in the first place.
The book Confessions of a Shopaholic centres around the severe monetary issues of Rebecca Bloomwood, a woman who is absolutely addicted to shopping and is in tons of debt because she charges everything on her credit cards and store cards. The irony of the plot is that Rebecca works for a magazine called Successful Saving, and is supposed to be an expert on financial matters.

While the film keeps that premise alive, the irony of it all is that it has released at a time when the world is in the throes of a global economic recession. And store and credit card debt is not a thing to be made light of: it is a reality for thousands who are being hounded by their banks and collection agencies. One really wonders what the makers of the film were thinking when they decided to release this film.

And there's no good news for Sophie Kinsella's fans. Never before has a book's plot been killed so much in a cinematic adaption. For starters, the book is supposed to be set in the UK. In the movie, Rebecca lives in New York (jumping ahead to the second book in which Rebecca does move there) and is shown to be such a scatty airhead that she makes Paris Hilton look like an intellectual. Her friend Suze (Krysten) is supposed to be somewhat normal - but she is even worse, if that's possible.

Rebecca plows through her shopping addiction and appears to be delusional too, since the mannequins in store actually talk to her. (Note to director: This is chick-lit fiction, not Harry Potter) Rebecca racks up the debt until she gets fired from her job at a gardening magazine, and somehow lands up at Successful Saving, where her boss is Luke Brandon (Hugh Dancy). She begins to write a popular column on financial management from an 'everyday girl' perspective, as Luke's trust in her seems to have no bounds. In the midst is the fact that Rebecca is being hounded by an agent from a collection agency, Derek Smeath (Robert Stanton), as she is over 15,000 pounds in debt. As Rebecca's star shines and she becomes feted in financial circles, Derek comes closer and closer to nabbing Rebecca, which is Rebecca's biggest fear: she doesn't want to be exposed as someone so incapable of managing her own finances while she advises others on how to do so.

While even the huge deviations from the book could have made for an interesting storyline - though the book's original romantic angle was far more alluring - what kills Confessions of a Shopaholic is bad, bad acting. Rebecca is annoying, Suze is shrill, Derek has no presence and Luke appears to be lost. In the book, Luke's confidence and success is what creates such an aura around him, and that essence is completely lost in the film. Moreover, even the styling of the film is atrocious. Where films like Sex and the City and The Devil Wears Prada make one ooh and aah over the styling and clothes, in Confessions, one wonders how many overpriced clothes Rebecca has bought. Ugly bags and jackets, ill-fitted dresses and bad makeup make her seem less of a shopaholic and more in need of an extreme makeover.

Only watch this film if you haven't seen any eye candy in a while - Hugh Dancy is quite dashing- and if you've never read the books. Sophie Kinsella fans should stay far, far away.