Review by Matt Anderson

Blame it on the economy, blame it on a new presidency or a new sense of consumer conservatism, whatever the case, Confessions of a Shopaholic didn't find a lot of buyers during its theatrical run. Actually, that's a shame. It's a mighty happy little movie with a lot of spunk and a decent message. Aside from a jab at a CEO raking in the bucks while his company's investors eat a (modest in the current economy) 8% loss, Confessions doesn't have the satirical bite of The Devil Wears Prada (the book, not the movie) and it doesn't have the sophistication of Mike Nichols' Working Girl, but it does have Isla Fisher.

Fisher ( I Heart Huckabees) stars as Rebecca Bloomwood, a woman who prefers the security of a good sale to the love of a man (after all, you can't return a man like you can cashmere, she says). Fisher, who was born in Oman to Scottish parents, really gets her role as a fashion-obsessed New Yorker. She's gorgeous, funny, quirky -- she is perfectly cast. It doesn't matter if she's indulging in some really, really bad dance moves or embarrassing herself in a really, really bad job interview, she's really, really funny. And this should've been a breakout movie for her.

A journalist with her sights set on working for the fashion-fabulous Alette magazine, Rebecca winds up getting her foot in the door by taking a job at Successful Saving, a money magazine run by the same publishing house. The joke is Rebecca has no dollar sense, yet she winds up earning international fame as "The Girl in the Green Scarf," serving up financial advice in laywoman's terms. Unfortunately for her, she's run up quite a bill and has a pit-bullish debt collector hot on her trail. Sharing in her world is a terrific supporting cast that includes a number of A/A-/B+-listers, including Kristin Scott Thomas, John Lithgow, Julie Hagerty, John Goodman, Joan Cusack, Lynn Redgrave and Wendie Malick.

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