An Enjoyable, Good-Looking Movie With an Excellent Cast
Based on the best-selling novel by Laura Weisenberg, The Devil Wears Prada (2006) is a cheerful, upbeat film that mostly provides pleasant diversion. The best thing about it is that, in a supporting role, Meryl Streep creates an unforgettable character as the boss from hell. Also, Anne Hathaway (The Princess Diaries, Brokeback Mountain) is very good as the story's main character. In addition, Stanley Tucci and Emily Blunt contribute fine supporting performances.
The movie centers around a Vogue-like magazine, and the good-looking actors, locations, sets and costumes are easy on the eyes. The location shooting in Manhattan and Paris, the cinematography of Florian Ballhaus and the costume design by Patricia Field give the film a lot of visual panache.
Entertaining Movie, but the Storytelling Is a Bit Heavy-Handed
Although The Devil Wears Prada is very entertaining, it doesn't evoke much emotional involvement on the part of the viewer. Its central coming-of-age story is told clunkily with a TV-ish sensibility, and the heavy-handed use of music hammers home what the audience is supposed to be feeling. Toward the end, the film feels like it's overstayed its welcome by about 15 minutes, and the tidying up gets a little tedious. Still, these objections are mere cavils about a movie that overall is extremely agreeable.
A Recent College Grad Trying to Find Her Way in the Workplace
Andrea ("Andy") Sachs (Anne Hathaway) is a Midwesterner who has just graduated from Northwestern and come to the Big Apple to seek a career in journalism. Wearing down-to-earth, practical clothing, she interviews for a job at Runway, the world's most influential fashion magazine. Despite her inappropriate attire, Andy is hired as an assistant to tyrannical editor-in-chief Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep).
With a little help from the magazine's fashion director (Stanley Tucci), Andy begins to dress stylishly, and she turns out to be amazingly competent at meeting Miranda's outrageous demands. Although Andy must perform many menial tasks, such as fetching Starbucks coffee for her boss, the job has a glamorous side, including a trip to Paris for Fashion Week.
However, Andy's work is so all-consuming that she has little time or energy left for a personal life. Her live-in boyfriend, an aspiring chef, tries to be understanding, but serious doubts arise as to whether or not they can make it as a couple. When she beds down with another guy in a fancy Paris hotel suite, Andy seems on the verge of succumbing to the allure of the lifestyle attainable through her job.
Featurettes on the DVD
The Devil Wears Prada DVD contains five featurettes with a total running time of 33 minutes. My favorite of these is the nine-minute "Fashion Visionary Patricia Field," about the costume designer and clothing store owner. I also enjoyed the three-minute "Getting Valentino," which is about how the famous couturier came to be involved with the film. Another interesting featurette is the 12-minute "The Trip to the Big Screen," which discusses the process of transforming Lauren Weisenberg's best-selling novel into the movie. The six-minute "NYC and Fashion" is basically a justification for shooting in Manhattan. Finally, the three-minute "Boss From Hell" consists of clips from the film interspersed with people talking about bad experiences they've had with bosses.
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