Confessions of a Shopaholic (2009)

Starring Isla Fisher, Hugh Dancy, Joan Cusack, John Goodman
Directed by P.J. Hogan

NAME: Rebecca Bloomwood
OCCUPATION: Journalist
CREDIT CARDS: 12

You know that feeling that you girls get when you see a hot guy. You know how your heart beats faster, you get weak in the knees, and time stands still. Well, that’s how Rebecca feels about shopping. She loves to shop. It makes things better and when she shops for a brief moment the world is a better place….and then its not…so she shops again. The only problem is she’s not wealthy and she has to charge everything to her multiple almost entirely maxed out collection of credit cards. Girl, you got a problem. $16,000 worth. Looks we have ourselves a shopaholic.

Seriously, stop judging her. She knows she has a problem. She knows she’s in debt. It’s not her fault. She wants to stop. She can’t. Mannequins are freaking talking to her in the store. They are telling her to buy these things. She is afraid. Sh!t, I know I would be. I would do what they say, too. Either that or run screaming from the store. And, its not like what they want her to do is that bad. All she has to do is buy some Prada shoes, or a Guccini handback or something and they stop talking to her. Sounds like a deal to me.

One day, after realizing how much she really is in debt, she meanders into a store and is told by one of these Mannequins to buy a green scarf. This mannequin tells her that the scarf isn’t a need, it’s a necessity. She must have it to stay warm in the wintertime. It’s OK to buy right, as long as it’s a basic need. And, she needs it to look fabulous for her job interview at her dream magazine, She grabs the scarf and heads to the counter only to discover that $50 cash, and $20 dollars on one card, and $30 on another, and more on another declined card, isn’t actually enough. Can you hold it please? No, we don’t hold sale items. So, what does Rebecca do? She panics and runs out of the towards a hotdog vendor who refuses to cash a check for all his hotdogs over $23 dollars. Enter Hugh Dancy. Where have I seen him before? Oh yeah, “The Jane Austen Book Club”. That’s right. He’s dreamy. Anyways, in the movie he’s just a guy who wants a hot dog. So much in fact, that to get her out of his way, he gives her $20 bucks and waves goodbye with a catchy one liner. Now, that’s pimp (pronounced P, I, M, Pimp).

The stage is set…for romance, comedy, drama, hijinks, fashion, and everything else. Will Rebecca get her dream job? Will she get the man of her dreams? Will she ever break her shopping addiction? Well, you’ll just have to watch to find out. But, I will say there is plenty of mishaps, shopping, and poppy techno music to go around (with robot voice lyrics like “now you’re a girl... a girl, girl, girl... you go shop girl...you girl girl girl...now you go shop some more... and then you go girl").

You’ll remember Isla Fisher as he semi-crazy girlfriend turned wife to Vince Vaughn in “Wedding Crashers” (2005). She is pretty good in this too. There are also some decent actors in some of the secondary roles. Joan Cusack and John Goodman seem to be having a lot of fun playing the frugal parents of our shopaholic. Kristin Scott Thomas, etc. etc.

I didn’t actually drink a beer with this one because I watched it while I was sick sitting at home. I did have some Progresso Traditional 99% Fat Free Chicken Noodle soup. It had their “most tender chicken ever” and was full of vitamins and minerals. And, at only 100 calories a serving you can literally go nuts on it. I ate it cold, right out of the can, and it was still dee-lish.

FORCE THE BOYFRIEND: 2 out of 10 (1 means he'll hate it, 10 means he'll like it)

Watch it if you liked "Sex and the City: The Movie" (2008) or you like shopping.

Chick Flick: 3 cartons of ice cream (out of 5)

DVD: 1 pieces of milky chocolate (out of 5)

Soup: 5 manly high fives (out of 5)