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The Devil Wears Prada film review
THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA
Running time: 109 mins
Starring: Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Stanley Tucci, Emily Blunt, Adrien Grenier, Simon Baker
Looking like some couture version of Cruella De Vil with her white hair and black outfit, Miranda Priestly is equally as frightening, but here it isn't little puppies that quiver in her presence but the staff of the glossy fashion magazine Runway, over which she presides. Played with delectable venom by Meryl Streep, Miranda is ruthless, demanding and determined; qualities that have propelled her to become the most influential women in fashion. Such attributes are admired in men, but on women are seen as the definition of a bitch.
Based on Lauren Weisberger's best-selling novel, The Devil Wears Prada offers an amusing, if somewhat superficial, take on the vicious and fickle vagaries of the fashion industry. Rife with cutting remarks like, "Do you have a prior commitment at some hideous skirt convention?" TDWP is deliciously mean if ultimately insubstantial. Directed by David Frankel who honed his appreciation for the skilled art of women's fashion put downs when directing Sex And The City, TDWP is at its best when ridiculing an industry that provides a wealth of opportunity for mockery.
Into this merciless world strays the (very) wide-eyed and plain Andy Sachs (Anne Hathaway). With Miranda having frightened off the latest in a very long line of assistants, an opportunity has arisen to take a prestigious, if challenging, step into the field of magazine journalism, a job "a million girls would kill for." Turns out Andy is not one of them, being one of the few women in New York who isn't aware of Miranda and her fearsome reputation. This refreshing confession, along with Andy's tireless work ethic, is enough to persuade Miranda to hire her.
Taking her position behind Miranda's first assistant Emily (Emily Blunt) who is "just one stomach flu away from my goal weight," Andy quickly learns why her boss burns through assistants. She also learns what is required to make it in the cut-throat fashion business, namely placing her personal commitments, including boyfriend Nate (Adrien Grenier), second to the needs of her boss. That and transforming her once conservative image into that of a fashionista.
The unwaveringly brilliant Streep revels in the role of the satanic Miranda, tossing off withering lines and looks with barely suppressed glee. Upon confronting the dowdy Andy, she declares , "And you have no style or sense of fashion," to which an affronted Andy replies, "I think that depends on your . . ." before Miranda cuts her short with, "No, no. That wasn't a question." Hathaway does a good job of capturing Andy's chameleon-like tendencies while Stanley Tucci is hilarious as Miranda's camp and catty right hand man.
The Devil Wears Prada is like many of the models that grace the haute couture catwalks, appealing enough on the outside, but not much going on inside.
Kevin Murphy
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