Fridae

In these grim recessionary times, Confessions of a Shopaholic bounces into our cinemas confidently, as if unaware that the majority of consumers are afraid to even peep into shop windows. The movie centers a woman who is an addict for designer wear that caused her to run into a massive debt. Yet its effervescent actress Isla Fisher - the shopaholic in the title - somehow makes the film more likeable than it has any right to be.

Based on Sophie Kinsella's bestselling novel, Isla plays a journalist with a passion for clothes - so much so that she converses with mannequins in department stores. She dreams of writing for Alette, a top fashion magazine run by Kristin Scott Thomas. So when Alette's sister publication, a financial magazine, has a job opening, she grabs it, hoping to make the leap to fashion writing eventually.

Oddly enough, she thrives as a financial journalist, catching the eye of her handsome British boss, Hugh Dancy. Meanwhile, her credit card debts are ballooning dangerously, and her ruse is almost up�

Director PJ Hogan, who had his breakthrough with chick flick Muriel's Wedding (1994), keeps things light, clean and breezy - as does the natural comedienne Isla Fisher, who has a na�ve goofy charm. But while we liked her and the overall tone of the film, we don't understand why a film called Confessions of a Shopaholic could have such dreadful clothes.

Granted, Isla's character is a young woman who's still learning to be a fashionista. She's not yet on the level of that other fashion-loving journo Carrie Bradshaw. Still, it's incomprehensible why she has to wear clothes that invariably look cumbersome and over-the-top.

The film's costume designer is the famous Patricia Field, who styles the cast of Sex & The City, The Devil Wears Prada and most recently Ugly Betty. But Patricia seems to have gone momentarily mad, making even the supposed editrix Kristin Scott Thomas wear ugly, unflattering clothes - nothing like how Meryl Streep looked as The Devil.

Confessions of a Shopaholic is pleasant enough, but don't buy a ticket expecting this to be Saks & The City.