(3 out of 5 stars)

Isla Fisher is a leading lady.  She made the world take notice in Wedding Crashers, was completely endearing in Definitely, Maybe, and in Confessions of a Shopaholic, she IS the movie.  She has an uncanny gift for physical comedy.  Her falls are Chevy Chase-esque, and her dancing scenes would embarrass even Elaine Benes.  Couple that with a sizzling body and a beautiful face, and that’s a movie star.

The plot for Confessions of a Shopaholic is very thin, predictable after about five minutes, and seems to be hurt by some major editing issues, but Fisher makes us care about Rebecca Bloomwood, an extremely unlikable character who would rather shop than have sex.  And really, that’s the joy of a movie like this.  No new ground is going to be broken, eventually person A and person B fall in love, but if you are able to have fun in the process, you can have an enjoyable experience.  Bridget Jones’ Diary did that, Sex and the City didn’t.

The rest of the cast has a tough act to follow with Fisher, but they’re all game; particularly Julie Haggerty as Bloomwood’s boss’ ditzy secretary and Wendy Malick as a strict Shopaholics Anonymous coach.  John Lithgow suffers the most from the editor’s chopping, as his character randomly pops in and out with no real rhyme or reason.

This was not a good movie, bad movie, or an original movie, but it was pleasant.  And any movie with John Salley in a Shopaholics Anonymous group can’t be all bad.