Review Movies: Confessions of a Shopaholic | Cadillac Records

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The Review - AT THE MOVIES with DAN CARRIER
Published: 19 February 2009

Confessions of a Shopaholic

Also on release this week

• Cadillac Records (15)
THE Chess record label gave the world the likes of Chuck Berry and recorded blues legend Muddy Waters.
Now the story behind its rise as one of the driving forces behind RnB, blues and rock’n’roll has been brought to the big screen.
Adrien Brody stars as Leonard Chess, theatrical promoter and music lover. He finds himself in good company: Beyonce Knowles stars as Etta James.
With some incredible music, you don’t have to be a rhythm and blues purist to enjoy.

•Anvil! The Story of Anvil (12a)
ANVIL are an obscure Canadian heavy metal group and this film charts their burning desire to be rock gods.
Their 1982 album, Metal on Metal, was apparently a seminal moment for a lot of hairy young men in garage bands across the States. But despite the album’s apparent popularity, Anvil crashed out of the public’s consciousness.
But now they have found fame by appearing in a rock-u-mentary. This is great, much better than their frankly horrible, horrible, horrible music.
Director Sacha Gervasi has a wonderful eye – at times you are not sure whether you have walked into a Canadian version of Spinal Tap – and his portrayal of their last and occasionally desperate attempts for fame and fortune is super. They stagger from one hockey arena to another, overcoming the teething problems of staging rock concerts for wannabe has-beens.
The whole rock god thing is firmly anchored in reality. Watch them reach for the stars and pretend to be Led Zeppelin.

• Confessions of a Shopaholic (PG)
URGH, yuk!
A romantic comedy about a credit card-addicted spendaholic.
Isla Fisher is the shallow New Yorker who can’t help flashing the plastic to stock her wardrobes with the latest designer goodies.
Then she gets a job on a magazine giving financial advice (oh, the irony). And she also falls in love (obviously).
And then there is a happy ending (the characters just don’t deserve it).

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