Confessions of Shopaholic - Suze

I'm back from the Balkans and ready to blog again! This week's movie is Confessions of a Shopaholic, based on the novel by Sophie Kinsella. It's pretty typical chick-lit, making a predictable chick flick. Our leading actress, Isla Fisher, is a great physical actress - while some of the gags are just obnoxious, many are rather endearing, and a good distraction from the shallow, materialistic, addictive behavior of Rebecca Bloomwood. Her lack of professionalism, from lying in her interview to blowing off work for a sample sale, is truly atrocious, and seriously unrealistic. What's more, she gets a boyfriend out of all this nonsense - it wouldn't be a chick flick without some sort of romance story arc. Rebecca does encounter some inner conflicts surrounding her compulsive shopping and the problems that causes outside of her credit card debt, and eventually overcomes that addiction, repairing her friendship with Suze and getting an offer from Alette, the fashion magazine she initially wanted to write for. The release of this movie was untimely, in the midst of the financial crisis. And while there are some relevant lessons on personal finance, the way Rebecca and the other characters consume luxury goods would have been much more appropriate and almost prescient if it had been released sooner.

The beta friend in this movie is Suze. Played by Krysten Ritter, Suze is Rebecca's wealthy roommate with a functional relationship and a steady job. She's very enthusiastic and supportive of Rebecca's career aspirations, and encourages her to enroll in 'Shopaholics Anonymous.' She is a privileged New Yorker, living in a comfortable apartment that her parents own. As much as she is concerned for Rebecca's finances, it is not her job to teach her smart spending. Suze becomes engaged and enlists Rebecca as a bridesmaid (maid of honor?). Rebecca hates the dress Suze picks, but buys it anyway, and in an unfortunate series of events loses it, and when she goes to buy it back, along with a dress for an appearance on a television show, she only has enough money for one, and chooses the more attractive tv-ready dress. Suze is there to binge drink with Rebecca and read her writing. They do seem to have a pretty genuine friendship - Suze rips up Rebecca's rent check when she loses her job, and while they have a falling out, it's believable that they can reconcile. They have fun together and talk about more than just men. Rebecca never resents Suze for trying to curtail her spending, and I would be so bold as to say that their friendship is the one non-shallow thing in Rebecca's life. I did read the book before I saw the movie, and I seem to remember their relationship was portrayed rather differently, with Suze more of an enabler for Rebecca's shopping.

Stats
Screen Time: 12 minutes
Memorable Quotes: "Bex, I'll get the tequila, you get the bills." "What do they call it when an animal rights person gets trampled to death by a cow?" "You're opening up his what?" "Bex, have you ever thought of taking your own advice? Like, what would The Girl in the Green Scarf say about hiding Visa bills under your bed." "Hypothetically you're a big fat liar. You're advising people about debt and you're up to your eyeballs in it." "How am I supposed to know her parachute didn't open. She doesn't even exist!" "Imagine you wearing this dress. Walk past a mirror - would you be jealous?"