Tag: Isla Fisher

Review: ‘Confessions of a Shopaholic’

confessionsshopaholicmovie

Jennifer:

It is always interesting to see a book brought to life in a movie. Stories with which we are so familiar seen through the eyes of another. Some adaptations are a success, others, not so much.

Tonight we saw a sneak preview of ‘Confessions of a Shopaholic’ which is based not only on the best selling novel of the same name but also the second book in the series ‘The Shopaholic Takes Manhattan’. The movie stars Isla Fisher (Wedding Crashers) as Rebecca Bloomwood, a twenty something journalist who believes that the road to happiness should be traveled in style.

After adjusting to the idea of the story taking place in New York instead of London and the changes in the specifics of Becky’s job (as a stepping stone to a job at another magazine in the same publishing house) I settled in to enjoy a surprisingly funny movie. While I had expected to enjoy the whole thing I did NOT expect my boyfriend – who attended under duress – to like it as much as he did.

The spirit of the story is faithful to the books while the sequence of events (and events themselves!) are not. Becky is a journalist who takes a job giving financial advice for ‘Successful Savings’ magazine. She is able to explain sometimes complicated aspects of personal finance into easily understandable terms by likening them to shopping. This approach really resonates with the audience of the magazine and Becky quickly finds herself catapulted to a seat on a morning TV show to dole out advice in person. All of this would be a dream come true were she not hiding from a number of increasingly persistent debt collectors – one of whom is tipped off about the appearance and attends the broadcast.

The movie is quick paced and fun to watch. The entire cast is excellent in their roles but Fisher easily outshines them all. The character of Becky (especially in some of the outfits in this movie. It looked like Rainbow Brite was the wardrobe designer!) could all too easily be a hysterical caricature of herself – look for the dance scene, one of our favorites. Fisher manages to give her warmth and innate likability.

‘Confessions of a Shopaholic’ opens in wide release on Friday February 13, 2009. It is a perfect date movie delivered just in time for Valentine’s Day.

[Overall: 4 stars out of 5]

Chad:

So, Jennifer (my girlfriend) and I saw Jerry Bruckheimer’s vision of ‘Confessions of a Shopaholic’ and I have to say, it was pretty good. It was much better than I had initially expected. The movie is based on two books, Confessions of a Shopaholic and Shopaholic Takes Manhattan, from the best selling author Sophie Kinsella. The movie itself was trite and fun, which I think was the main part of it’s appeal.

The film had two things going for it. It was far from predictable, which was very refreshing for me, and it had plenty of laugh-out-loud moments. The story follows shopaholic Rebecca Bloomwood, played by Isla Fisher (‘Wedding Crashers’), as she traverses the outrageous worlds of high fashion and high finance. The only problem is that she finds herself on the wrong side of both. Her addiction, buying the peak of fashion items, has gradually sunk her deeply in debt with her credit card companies.

Her debt becomes a problem when an alcohol-induced mailing mistake lands her in a writing position with a finance magazine of all things. However, with the help of her editor Luke Brandon, played by Hugh Dancy (‘Blood and Chocolate’), she finds her voice. The fashion metaphors she uses to explain the almost too complex world of money and finance really resonate with the general public. She even lands a spot on a television show, which is an awesome opportunity for her. That is, until they open the floor for questions and one of her bill collectors takes the mic.

All in all, this was a fun film. I was pleasantly surprised at that. To all the guys out there, this is a perfect date movie. It’s witty, funny and your ladies will enjoy it.

It opens this weekend, just in time for Valentines Day!

[Overall: 4 stars out of 5]

Isla Fisher Adds Voice to ‘Rango’

Isla Fisher has joined the case of Gore Verbinski’s animated film, ‘Rango’. Â  The actress joins the cast as the film’s female voice lead.

Fisher, who can be seen in the upcoming ‘Confessions of a Shopaholic’, will join Johnny Depp and Abigail Breslin in the film, which centers on a household pet who goes on an adventure to find his true self.

Also rounding out the cast are  Alfred Molina, Ray Winstone, Harry Dean Stanton and Ned Beatty.

Source: Variety

Review: ‘Definitely, Maybe’ on DVD

Charles:

Coming out next week on DVD is the romantic comedy Definitely,Maybe starring Ryan Reynolds who plays Will Hayes who is in the middle of a divorce when his 10 year old daughter, Maya, starts to question him about his life before marriage. Maya wants to know everything about how her parents met and fell in love. Will’s story begins in 1992, as a young, aspiring politician who moves to New York from Wisconsin in order to work on the Clinton campaign. For Maya, Will relives his past as a young man recounting the history of his romantic relationships with three very different women played by Elizabeth Banks,Rachel Weisz, and Isla Fisher. Will attempts a to explain the “PG” version of his story for his daughter and changes the names so Maya has to guess who he finally marries. Is her mother Will’s college sweetheart, the girl next-door Emily? Is she his longtime best friend April? Or is she the free-spirited journalist Summer? As Maya puts together the pieces of her dad’s romantic relationships, she begins to understand that love is “confusing”. And as Will tells her his story, Maya helps him to understand that it’s definitely never too late to go back and maybe even find a happy ending. Myself, not being big on the romantic girly comedies actually loved this movie! Also there is a surprise from St.Louis native Kevin Kline who had the most hilarious role throughout the film.

(4 out of 5)

Zac:

Ryan Reynolds stars in this Romantic dramadey that focuses on the romantic trials and tribulations of William Hayes and the for the most part is a pretty solid picture.
William Hayes is about to get divorced and his daughter tries to get him to tell him the story of his past love life hoping that he will realize why her mom is so great and they can get back together. Sounds sappy and predictable, but it doesn’t follow the beaten path. It is charming, cute, and funny throughout while remaining real and sad at times.
The three women in Will’s life are all given fake names so his daughter Maya (played by the excellent and cute Abigail Breslin) can try and figure out which one is her mother just based on the way her father describes her. The first possibility is the college sweetheart Emily (Elizabeth Banks). Will is forced to leave her to pursue his political goals and aspirations with the Clinton campaign in 92 only to find him self as a page for the campaign team forcing him to wonder what he is doing there. In the mean time Summer and April (Rachel Weisz and Isla Fisher respectively) creep into temptations path; Summer has a history with Emily and April acting as the “copy girl” at the campaign office. Will runs into issues with both girls and end up having enduring relationships on and off again with all of these women over time. I will not divulge much more, since the “romance mystery” is the whole point of seeing the film.
Reynolds is fantastic in the lead and you can’t help from liking him. Him and Breslin work very well together and are believable as a father/daughter team, even if they went with the younger look of Reynolds for the part. Reynolds is constantly charming and endearing and a bit of a lovable dufus mixed in.
Banks gets the least to do and the least amount of screen time and that is a shame because she is a great actress. She takes full advantage of what time she is given and is great in the scene by the pond in Central Park.
Weisz is very good and devilish as the shifty and risky girl. Easy to fall for and hard to hold onto, Will and Summer form a believable bond and how they end up is entirely believable as well. Weisz and Reynolds also get to chew up the screen with Kevin Kline for a number of their scenes and Kline is fun and witty as the writer Hampton Roth.
Fisher gets the most work of the ladies and is great as the care free spirit April. Eternally cute and a great friend to will there ups and downs in their relationship are very true and sad at times, but they also manage to have a lot of fun as well.
Breslin has some great laughs in her commentary on the story as it goes and the filmmakers use the mechanic of children using inappropriate language to great effect in this film. I hope to see her continued success carry on for as long as possible.
The film itself rarely falls into the pitfalls of the genre and zigs where it should zag on a number of occasions. This keeps the film feeling fresh and interesting, with a plot you can’t quite figure out all the way. The final couple of scenes though start to buy into clichà ©, and the motivations of all the characters begin to get a little weak, but it doesn’t ruin the experience by any means.
The film also uses history to nice effect to weave the story around allowing for jokes at the expense of few of today’s modern politicians. The one thing that the film really misses on though is the abrupt and mostly unprovoked tailspin Will takes at one point that seems a bit to dramatic for its own good.
The movie doesn’t avoid all predictability, but is fresh most of the time. It might not hold up under high scrutiny, but a sweet movie like this should be bothered with very harsh scrutiny when it is one of the more solid entries in the genre. The film doesn’t lay on the sap and has some genuinely heart warming moments through out and Reynolds and company all do great work making this a good movie for those looking for a little romance in their theater visit.

(3.5 out of 5)

[rating: 3.75/5]

The DVD is rated PG-13 for Sexual Content,Language and Smoking.

Make sure you check out the Special Features on the disc. There are some interesting deleted scenes, great commentary with the Director Adam Brooks and Star of the Film Ryan Reynolds, and two Featurettes which gives you an in depth look at how the film was made and production design of the film. Be there Tuesday at your local video store to pick up the romantic comedy of the year!