The Devil Wears Prada
A smart fashion comedy even for people who shouldn’t dress themselves.
DMR gives it a B.
I showed up at the local dollar movie theatre for The Devil Wears Prada in a pair of discount chinos, a black Carhartt belt, New Balance 853s and a green poly/rayon shirt from The North Face; I’m not exactly fashion forward. Still, I enjoyed The Devil Wears Prada, a movie set at a chi-chi fashion magazine.
The Devil Wears Prada is a fish-out-of-water story featuring Anne Hathaway as Andy Sachs, a serious… and fashion-challenged… journalist fresh from college. Unable to get work as a reporter, she happens into a job as the second assistant to the editor at "Runway," a fashion magazine. Everyone tells her that a million girls would kill for the job, something she finds incredible. The job is high on perks and prestige but low on money and deadly to one’s self-worth, since her boss is the barracuda editor Miranda Priestly, played with icy fierceness by Meryl Streep.
Actually that’s not right. Streep doesn’t so much play Priestly as she wears her skin, skin which is always wrapped in dresses, shoes and accessories from fancy-pants designers.
At first Andy struggles to keep up with Miranda and she maintains a mocking detachment from the world of fashion that seems about as deep to her as one of the gossamer gowns featured in the pages of "Runway." Eventually she drops her detachment and her inner fashionista appears; the little fish finds she can breathe the rare air just fine.
But while the rewards are great, being at the beck and call of Miranda comes at a fearsome price. Her friends tell her she’s changed and she suspects they’re right. As her phones rings with yet another call from Miranda, Andy’s boyfriend says, “the person whose call you always take, that’s the relationship you’re in.”
Streep could certainly get another best actor nomination for this movie, which would be number 14, but surprisingly it’s not her movie. The movie actually belongs to Anne Hathaway, who still seems like the fresh-faced newcomer even though she’s been in a dozen movies now. Hathaway’s unguarded freshness is letter perfect.
Also good is Stanley Tucci, who plays Nigel the art director. Tucci could have played him the way Jeremy Piven played the flamboyantly gay Versace salesman in Rush Hour 2. Piven stole that scene, but had Tucci played it that way it would have been too broad for The Devil Wears Prada. Tucci strikes just the right note as Andy’s friend and confidant.
The Devil Wears Prada is “rated PG-13 for some sensuality.” There are several scenes with Andy in bed with her boyfriend and another bedroom scene with a second love interest. The swearing is relatively mild. Because of the quality of the performances, the story and relatively mild language, I grade it as a B.
The Dollar Movie Review Grading System: The Dollar Movie Review grades on a curve. Movies that make choices to be course or vulgar are downgraded a full to a half grade or more. Likewise, movies that don’t gross out or offend too much can be upgraded as ‘a thanks for trying’ attaboy. The Devil Wears Prada was graded straight up.
I showed up at the local dollar movie theatre for The Devil Wears Prada in a pair of discount chinos, a black Carhartt belt, New Balance 853s and a green poly/rayon shirt from The North Face; I’m not exactly fashion forward. Still, I enjoyed The Devil Wears Prada, a movie set at a chi-chi fashion magazine.
The Devil Wears Prada is a fish-out-of-water story featuring Anne Hathaway as Andy Sachs, a serious… and fashion-challenged… journalist fresh from college. Unable to get work as a reporter, she happens into a job as the second assistant to the editor at "Runway," a fashion magazine. Everyone tells her that a million girls would kill for the job, something she finds incredible. The job is high on perks and prestige but low on money and deadly to one’s self-worth, since her boss is the barracuda editor Miranda Priestly, played with icy fierceness by Meryl Streep.
Actually that’s not right. Streep doesn’t so much play Priestly as she wears her skin, skin which is always wrapped in dresses, shoes and accessories from fancy-pants designers.
At first Andy struggles to keep up with Miranda and she maintains a mocking detachment from the world of fashion that seems about as deep to her as one of the gossamer gowns featured in the pages of "Runway." Eventually she drops her detachment and her inner fashionista appears; the little fish finds she can breathe the rare air just fine.
But while the rewards are great, being at the beck and call of Miranda comes at a fearsome price. Her friends tell her she’s changed and she suspects they’re right. As her phones rings with yet another call from Miranda, Andy’s boyfriend says, “the person whose call you always take, that’s the relationship you’re in.”
Streep could certainly get another best actor nomination for this movie, which would be number 14, but surprisingly it’s not her movie. The movie actually belongs to Anne Hathaway, who still seems like the fresh-faced newcomer even though she’s been in a dozen movies now. Hathaway’s unguarded freshness is letter perfect.
Also good is Stanley Tucci, who plays Nigel the art director. Tucci could have played him the way Jeremy Piven played the flamboyantly gay Versace salesman in Rush Hour 2. Piven stole that scene, but had Tucci played it that way it would have been too broad for The Devil Wears Prada. Tucci strikes just the right note as Andy’s friend and confidant.
The Devil Wears Prada is “rated PG-13 for some sensuality.” There are several scenes with Andy in bed with her boyfriend and another bedroom scene with a second love interest. The swearing is relatively mild. Because of the quality of the performances, the story and relatively mild language, I grade it as a B.
The Dollar Movie Review Grading System: The Dollar Movie Review grades on a curve. Movies that make choices to be course or vulgar are downgraded a full to a half grade or more. Likewise, movies that don’t gross out or offend too much can be upgraded as ‘a thanks for trying’ attaboy. The Devil Wears Prada was graded straight up.
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