Confessions Of A Shopaholic (2009/Disney Blu-ray + DVD/both w/Digital Copy)
Picture:
B+/B- Sound: B+/B- Extras: C Film: C+
I will
start off by saying, it wasn’t bad for a girl movie. Confessions
of a Shopaholic stars Isla Fisher and is probably the only reason the film
works. Isla Fisher stole our hearts and
every scene she was in, in Wedding
Crashers. She is amazing to look at
and I am thinking an extremely underrated talent. With all of this said, she did not turn Confessions of a Shopaholic into an
Academy Award Winner, but made it bearable.
When comparing this film to such other ‘yawners’ as Katherine Heigl’s 27 Dresses or Jennifer Garner’s Ghosts of Girlfriend’s Past this film
wasn’t so bad. It was light, airy, and
overall a fun time as I had a chuckle here and there. Did I mention Isla Fisher is amazing to look
at?
Confessions of a Shopaholic stars Isla Fisher as Rebecca
Bloomwood, a struggling journalist with a (you guessed it) shopping
problem. As she maxes out her credit
cards she clamors top get a job at the very exclusive fashion magazine Alette;
but sadly for Rebecca the position has just been filled by a conniving, leggy
blonde (Leslie Bibb). In a ‘if you can’t
beat ‘em join ‘em’ way Rebecca figures she can eventually swing her way into
Alette if she works her way up in a different branch of the expanding magazine
empire that is Alette.
Well let’s
just say Rebecca’s attempt to get a job doesn’t go so well at first and then in
a drunken fit, with her friend Suze (Krysten Ritter), she inadvertently mixes
up an angry letter to editor to Successful Saving with a spec article to
Alette. Long story short, the tequila
stupor helped Rebecca land a job at the financial magazine as her analogy
between finance and shopping somehow (rolls eyes) impressed the big wigs. At first her article makes a huge splash, but
it won’t be that easy for her as her shopping problem stands to threaten her
job, love life, and even friendships.
The film isn’t all too deep, but it is entertaining and did I mention
Isla Fisher is amazing to look at?
The
picture and sound on this Blu-ray release are much improved over the DVD which
is only half as good. The Blu-ray’s
picture looks amazing as it is bright, colorful, glossy, crisp, and just
overall well presented. The 1080p High
Definition 2.40 X 1 image leaps from the screen like a girl at a Prada dress
sale as each moment is so pristine it makes you wonder why better films get the
short end of the stick. The sound is
equally impressive in its English 5.1 DTS-HD (48kHz/24-bit) MA (Master Audio)
lossless surround track that makes the film sound awesome even though it isn’t
everything Blu-ray could be (i.e. with an action flick and such). The rear speakers are fully utilized with
constant background noises and music; whereas the fronts beautifully project
the bulk of the crisp dialogue.
The
picture quality on the DVD, as previously mentioned, does not hold up at all
next to the Blu-ray. The colors are
noticeably flat, with weaker blacks, and a no where near as crisp image. The sound also falls somewhat flat (though
passable) as the speaker range is not quite as good and it lacks the full
immersion effect that the Blu-ray offers.
The
extras on the DVD and Blu-ray are lackluster and barely worth watching as they
feature a bunch of Behind-the-Scenes
featurettes on Wardrobe, Temple of
Shopping, The Green Scarf, Sample Sale Madness, Window Shopping and New York Fashion Central. Collectively the featurettes run about 2-3
minutes each and are extremely useless and annoying. Maybe girls who are enthralled with the
trivialities of Sex and the City will
fall head over feet for these featurettes, but I simply felt they were useless
blurbs. There is also a collection of
Deleted Scenes that neither add nor detract from the film, some Bloopers that
are actually quite funny, and some Music Videos that feature the likes of
Shontelle with Akon and Jordyn Taylor among others.
The film
was cute and worth a watch, but nothing besides that. Did I mention Isla Fisher
is nice to look at?
- Michael P. Dougherty II