Confessions Of A Shopaholic is a light hearted comedy based on the Sophie Kinsella novel of the same name. We follow the life of Becky Bloomwood, a self confessed shopaholic who finds herself over £16,000 in debt following her uncontrollable spending sprees. She ironically takes up a job at a financial magazine to fund her obsession, trying to keep the lid on her debt ridden past, where she falls for her boss, Luke Brandon.
Unfortunately, the film is not a patch on the book. Becky in the movie comes across as a vapid, self absorbed twenty something, who is too air headed to realise the error of her ways. She's rude and obnoxious, yet every character seems to fall head over heels for her at first sight. For some reason, the film also gave her a more 'klutzy' nature, no doubt trying to balance out the depth the character lost from the novel.
Becky from the books is a lot more grounded, good natured, and whilst she is a little air headed, she also shows genuine remorse for her actions. She speaks her mind, but she isn't obnoxious about it, and she genuinely tries her best in every situation, a character trait that redeems her from being admittedly shallow.
When we lose the softer, genuine and over all more likable side to her character, Becky Bloomwood makes for an irritating, and frankly flat, lead character.
Matters aren't helped by the fact that Luke Brandon also loses a lot of his character, the film makes him out to be a puppy eyed idiot who exists solely to be Becky's love interest. We lose the firm, but kind hearted man from the books, who doesn't bend over backwards for Becky, but looks past her flashy exterior to the intelligent and creative woman within.
Derrick Smeath is also painted out to be a villain, when the guy was just doing his job, something that is touched upon in the original novel. He is given a more human side, and is willing to offer Becky help, not point out her flaws live on television, like in the movie. The scene where Becky pays him just cements how much bitchier her movie persona is, losing the sweet humour that came with the novel.
The physical comedy is overused, unfunny, and more importantly, unnecessary. From the scene where Becky scrambles across the conference table to stop Luke from answering the phone, to the one where her jacket unravels and spills beads across the floor; resulting in her slipping and falling on another woman. It comes across as a desperate attempt to make up for the subtle and clever humour lost from the book. More importantly, it doesn't work.
Understandably the storyline couldn't remain exactly the same when converted from a novel into a film, but it didn't quite need to have suffered quite so badly. Important scenes are omitted, bizarre ones are added, and some characters pop in and out so infrequently we don't really grasp their importance to Becky. The premise of the book is admittedly, already outlandish, the film takes this to whole new levels.
I also feel the whole film suffered drastically from not being set in London, as in the original novel, because part of Becky's charm was lost by making her the stereotypical American girl.
In short, if you liked the movie, try the book. Because it is much better, Becky is more likable, Luke has a personality, and gasp, being cute doesn't get you out of everything.
Unfortunately, the film is not a patch on the book. Becky in the movie comes across as a vapid, self absorbed twenty something, who is too air headed to realise the error of her ways. She's rude and obnoxious, yet every character seems to fall head over heels for her at first sight. For some reason, the film also gave her a more 'klutzy' nature, no doubt trying to balance out the depth the character lost from the novel.
Becky from the books is a lot more grounded, good natured, and whilst she is a little air headed, she also shows genuine remorse for her actions. She speaks her mind, but she isn't obnoxious about it, and she genuinely tries her best in every situation, a character trait that redeems her from being admittedly shallow.
When we lose the softer, genuine and over all more likable side to her character, Becky Bloomwood makes for an irritating, and frankly flat, lead character.
Matters aren't helped by the fact that Luke Brandon also loses a lot of his character, the film makes him out to be a puppy eyed idiot who exists solely to be Becky's love interest. We lose the firm, but kind hearted man from the books, who doesn't bend over backwards for Becky, but looks past her flashy exterior to the intelligent and creative woman within.
Derrick Smeath is also painted out to be a villain, when the guy was just doing his job, something that is touched upon in the original novel. He is given a more human side, and is willing to offer Becky help, not point out her flaws live on television, like in the movie. The scene where Becky pays him just cements how much bitchier her movie persona is, losing the sweet humour that came with the novel.
The physical comedy is overused, unfunny, and more importantly, unnecessary. From the scene where Becky scrambles across the conference table to stop Luke from answering the phone, to the one where her jacket unravels and spills beads across the floor; resulting in her slipping and falling on another woman. It comes across as a desperate attempt to make up for the subtle and clever humour lost from the book. More importantly, it doesn't work.
Understandably the storyline couldn't remain exactly the same when converted from a novel into a film, but it didn't quite need to have suffered quite so badly. Important scenes are omitted, bizarre ones are added, and some characters pop in and out so infrequently we don't really grasp their importance to Becky. The premise of the book is admittedly, already outlandish, the film takes this to whole new levels.
I also feel the whole film suffered drastically from not being set in London, as in the original novel, because part of Becky's charm was lost by making her the stereotypical American girl.
In short, if you liked the movie, try the book. Because it is much better, Becky is more likable, Luke has a personality, and gasp, being cute doesn't get you out of everything.
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