Isla Fisher stole “Wedding Crashers” out from under Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson.
She does the same with “Confessions of a Shopaholic,” but it’s a petty theft at best.
Fisher boasts impressive comic timing and a winning smile, but the release date for the newest underwhelming rom-com sure could be better. Who wants to watch a chronic shopper when the economy is in worse shape than Jack Black?
But Fisher barrels forth all the same, blowing past formula and negligible plot points to make “Confessions” tolerable to both chick flickers and their squirming beaus.
In “Confessions,” Fisher plays Rebecca, a woman who can’t resist a bargain, a dazzling mannequin display or any tony label, for that matter. She dreams of writing for a major fashion magazine, but she ends up toiling for a business rag edited by Hugh Dancy.
Yes, Dancy looks a bit young to be in charge of a major publication, but he’s got that British crinkle passed down to him by Hugh Grant. He’s intrigued by Rebecca’s writing, even though he mistakes her fashion prose for witty metaphors on the business scene.
Soon enough, Rebecca is a biz world sensation, but those nagging credit card bills could derail her journalistic dreams – as well as any chance at romancing her boss.
“Confessions” has been in development for quite some time, but two scenes in particular feel squeezed in at the last minute to acknowledge the country’s fiscal woes.
Fisher and Dancy make a solid romantic couple, even without the benefit of a sparkling script. And John Goodman and Joan Cusack ground every scene they’re in as Rebecca’s reasonable parents. Not sure how they spawned a shallow gal like Rebecca.
Anyone looking for worthwhile messages from “Confessions” will be too dazed and confused to figure out just what they saw. Materialism is bad – except when it makes countless women ecstatic. It’s a moral push and pull that only distracts from the film’s fizzy story.
“Confessions of a Shopaholic” shows Fisher can be trusted with bigger roles, but she better shop around before settling on her next film project.
(Photo: Isla Fisher plays a woman who can’t say no – to a designer handbag or shoes – in “Confessions of a Shopaholic.”)
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