Blu-ray Review
Confessions of a Shopaholic
Directed by: PJ Hogan Cast: Isla Fisher, Hugh Dancy, Kristen Ritter, John Goodman Running Time: 1 hr 45 mins Rating: PG-13 Due Out: June 23, 2009
Plot: A Shopaholic (Fisher) starts writing for a savings magazine while being pursued by a persistent debt collector.
Who's It For? It’s moderately enjoyable even for Neanderthals such as myself, who don’t even know how to properly pronounce “Yves Saint Laurent.” But appreciation of fashion would be a huge plus going into this.
Movie:
Isla Fisher’s enthusiastic dive into airheaded spunk makes this brand-name littered movie not as torturous as one would expect. The sub-love story isn't too heavy, as male counterpart Hugh Dancy is not as overwhelmingly charming as his name makes him sound to be. But a lot of the "fun" had with Confessions is more amusing than gut busting, as the film is a bit discounted on memorable lines or significant laughs. So on a pretty light level, this is relatively enjoyable, with no sadism involved. Fisher's bright presence is similar to the endearing quirkiness of Reese Witherspoon's Elle Woods character in Legally Blonde. And though not as funny, just think of this one as Fiscally Red. Score: 6/10
EXTRAS
Behind the Fashion - This feature is broken into six parts, all of them related to the heart of the film - fashion. Such elements like the wardrobe, location shooting, and the story behind the important green scarf are covered. But there's still no explanation why The Rock and Con Air producer Jerry Bruckheimer is a part of this.
Deleted Scenes - Nothing from here will be sorely missed, but one or two scenes might have been able to add a bit more to the character of Rebecca Bloomwood. They certainly would've put this movie closer towards a two hour running time.
Bloopers of a Shopaholic - This extra is edited like a music video, and tries to squeeze as many gaffes as possible into two minutes. One or two are actually funny like real "bloopers" should be.
The other extras:
"Accessory" Music Video by Jordyn Taylor "Takes Time To Love" Music Video by Trey Songz "Stuck With Each Other" Music Video By Shontelle feat. Akon
Extras Score: 5/10
OVERALL
Its questionable whether even shopaholics will enjoy the extras. They do focus on the fashion of the film almost entirely (true to its title, at least), but do so in brief segments that don’t even total ten minutes. On top of these brief moments of looking at "cute" outfits, the Blu-Ray offers weak bloopers and relatively insignificant brief deleted scenes. Three random music videos probably won't mean anything to someone who rents this, unless they're a fan of Trey Songz, Shontelle, or Jordyn Taylor.
One would expect a Blu-Ray version of a film with the name Shopaholic to splurge on the goods. But this is just a bit too frugal.
Final Score: 5/10