I’m not all that interested in the fashion industry, but I’d heard some good things about the 2006 film The Devil Wears Prada, so I thought I’d give it a try. The movie is based on the 2003 best-selling Lauren Weisberger novel of the same name. I ought to tell you right now that I haven’t read the book, and am writing this review based on what I glean from the film alone.
Anne Hathaway stars as Andrea Sachs, a recent Northwestern graduate who moves to Manhattan to try to secure a job as a journalist. For some reason, she ends up accepting a position as second personal assistant to Miranda Priestly (played by Meryl Streep), the editor-in-chief of Runway magazine — and the most powerful and influential woman in the fashion industry.
Of course, it’s an unwritten rule that any successful career woman in movies, TV shows, or books, has to be a ruthless bitch, so that’s exactly how Miranda is portrayed. She doesn’t listen to people, places incredible demands on all her employees, and treats everyone as though they barely deserve to breathe the same air that she does.
Andy’s character goes through all the typical scenes with all the typical characters that you’d expect of someone learning the ropes at a new job. First, she’s totally incompetent and overwhelmed. Miranda often gives her long lists of chores to do at the same time, barely pausing to take breaths between orders. And no, Miranda’s assistants aren’t allowed to ask questions to clarify said orders. Second, there’s the snotty co-worker (Emily, played by Emily Blunt) who doesn’t bother to help Andy fit in and who you just know is headed for a fall. Third, there’s the somewhat sympathetic co-worker (Nigel, played by Stanley Tucci) who has been around forever and who will eventually help Andy out. Finally, there are scenes of Andy getting the hang of, then becoming great at her job while basically abandoning her boyfriend and friends in favor of work.
If you’re looking for comedy, suspense, action, romance, or anything else that makes for a decent film, you won’t find it in The Devil Wears Prada. Let’s see if I can sum up the movie for you in one line: A young woman finds a job in New York City, works there for a while, and then quits in order to take a less demanding job. NOTHING else happens….
My Reaction: Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway’s performances were the only things that prevented me from returning the DVD unwatched. I thought Streep was actually understated as the boss from hell — I can just imagine other actresses wanting to go way overboard with the Priestly character. Hathaway simply comes off as likable in her role, so it was hard to dismiss her altogether.
While watching this movie, I couldn’t help but think that author Lauren Weisberger must have a pretty high opinion of herself. Wow, that was some ego trip of a story, huh?
Overall, I thought there were very few positive aspects of The Devil Wears Prada, and therefore give it just 5 stars. I suggest you skip it, as neither Streep nor Hathaway are enough to overcome the paint-by-numbers screenplay.