For those who haven't seen the film, here's a brief synopsis...
Confessions of a Shopaholic is a film most women (and even some men) will find that they can relate to on some level, especially now in these rocky economic times.
This film, based in the shopping capital New York, explores the inner most shopping desires of Rebecca Bloomwood, a columnist, who at the start of the film is working for a gardening magazine, in a job that she has no passion for. Her only passion is shopping and fashion.
Rebecca's love for shopping and her manic, impulse buying leaves her with huge debts and in a position where she can no longer afford to pay her rent and unable to bare the thought of opening her bank statements. Her piling debt has caused her to be hunted by Derek Smeath, a debt collector.
Early on in the film Rebecca is made redundant from the gardening magazine, however by ‘fluke' she finds herself working as a financial writer for a money magazine called Successful Savings. Although this is nothing compared to her dream job, to work at fashion magazine Alette, she has no choice as she desperately needs the income.
Derek Smeath the debt collector eventually tracks Rebecca down to her new work place where she dodges him by lying to her employer and colleagues at Successful Savings to conceal her financial crisis. She tells them that Derek Smeath is an obsessed ex-boyfriend who is stalking her. She wins their sympathy and security ban Derek Smeath from entering the building allowing Rebecca to be debt-collector free for a while.
In the meantime her flatmate/best friend encourages and supports her to face up to her addiction and deal with her finances by watching a self help video and joining a shopaholics anonymous group. This is a testing time for the in denial Rebecca.
The first column Rebecca writes for Successful Savings is a surprising triumph and she is thrown into the limelight. Now there's no escaping the collector; who inevitably catches up with her, exposing her extravagant lies and her massive debt live on national television. This public humiliation pushes Rebecca to realisation and forces her to take control of her debts by selling all her beloved designer clothes and shoes.
The happy ending comes with Rebecca paying off her debt getting her own back on Smeath by filling his office with jars of pennies!
