Take this one back for a refund

I had mentioned that I was worried about the imminent release of the Shopaholic film. This past weekend, I gritted my teeth and went to see it. Of course, the biggest problem is that the film has been moved from London to New York, so not only is the setting all wrong, but the characters (aside, for some odd reason, from Luke, the love interest) are American rather than British as well.

The film is just plain silly. Not only do the mannequins talk and gesture to Becky, in an effort to get her to buy (and really, she's a shopaholic, does she need any further inducement?), but this film is firmly in the falling-down-and-running-into-doors-are-hilarious school of film making. In other words, many instances of things that are supposed to cause chuckles really do (literally) fall flat.

Isla Fisher is adorable and does make an ideal Becky -- she just had very little to work with in the ridiculous script. There is no rhyme or reason as to what was kept from the book and what was invented for the film. For instance, Becky's roommate and best friend Suze has been kept, but the fact that she is from a wealthy family didn't seem to feature (aside from briefly mentioning that Suze's family owned the flat where the girls were living). Also inexplicably, Suze's fiance kept the ridiculous name of Tarquin. In the books, we are made to understand that this is one of those snooty upper-class names passed on generation after generation. In the film, he was just an American named Tarquin -- in fact, if he spoke at all, I can't remember it. And why in the world was Wendie Malick channelling Cruella De Vil???

The film could have been much better if it had stayed true to the books. The Shopaholic franchise is very popular, so why the film makers would want to unnecessarily make changes that detract from the charm of the original story is a mystery.

Final Verdict for Confessions of a Shopaholic the movie: Two Gherkins, for being messed about too much to retain much resemblance to the beloved books