The Devil Wears Prada

Directed by David Frankel. Written by Aline Brosh McKenna (screenplay), Lauren Weisberger (novel). Starring Anne Hathaway (Andy Sachs), Meryl Streep (Miranda Priestly).

Bottom line: Predictable but fun movie. Streep and Hathaway provide lovely performances.

3/4

Anne Hathaway plays Andy Sachs, a newly graduated Journalism major applying for positions all over New York. The only thing she could find was as an assistant Editor at the major fashion magazine. Her boss, Miranda Priestly (Streep), is the Devil in the title, The Devil Wears Prada. She is particular, bossy and unforgiving in her orders. Andy has to find a way to navigate the world of high fashion and avoid losing herself in it.

The plot of this movie is pretty predictable: Andy is frumpy but hardworking, then she discovers how to function in this new world, she becomes absorbed in fashion, work and herself thus losing her friends and eventually getting them back....or does she? (That's my attempt at protecting you from spoilers).

If not the plot, the performances are what make this movie so good. Hathaway is perfect for this role. She can be awkward but with a calculated grace and timing which make scenes fun and funny. At the same time, she can play the beautiful and determined fashionista.

Meryl Streep is as wonderful as always. She manages to be ice cold without losing the humanity of her character. After all, is she the bad guy? No. She is a woman who is determined to do what she loves and she won't let anyone or anything take that away from her. At one point, someone says, "If Miranda were a man, no one would say anything other than she is good at her job." I couldn’t agree more. It is this type of attitude which shapes the movie. It is frank and aware and I love it.

It is so often the case where we follow characters like Miranda Priestly or Andy Sachs. Each of these characters can be found in two different types of movies. The Miranda-type would be stuck in a lowly position but after working and working she gets what she wants. What is the cost of this determination? We are shown the long nights and endless work through montages but we aren't always shown the missed birthdays or recitals. The missed dates are what an Andy-character film emphasizes. It asks, “are you willing to sacrifice everything for success?”

In The Devil Wears Prada, it doesn't pass judgment about which you choose. We learn to sympathize with Miranda because she has to constantly battle with her gender, family and even her age. She is able to work with the top names of fashion and dictate the industry of something she loves. Who wouldn’t want to be in that position? For this reason, we also sympathize with Andy. She comes from and lives in a world which won't sacrifice her friends and family for success (because she loves her family and friends like Miranda loves fashion).

The Tim Gunn character, Nigel (played by Stanley Tucci) gives Andy a pep-talk. The reason she isn't succeeding in her position is that she doesn't want to succeed. It turns out that, ultimately, she doesn't want to succeed in that way. The films judgment comes about in trying to be something you are not.

Aside from the question of ambition, the movie also looks at fashion albeit critically. There is a scene where Andy laughs at Miranda for "fussing" over a belt because "they look exactly the same". Miranda retorts with a monologue about how the sweater which Andy threw on "because she doesn't care about fashion" was designed, over years, specifically for women like her. There is no way to avoid fashion because it is a permanent part of everyone's lives so disregarding it is foolish. I am tempted to type out the dialogue here but I don't want to spoil the fun.

I agree with this statement but it seems the movie doesn't. When she gives this monologue, we haven't begun to learn about her so she is still the villain. By the end of the movie, the ‘ideal Andy’ is the one that "didn't care how she dressed". Ambition is the bad guy but the fashion world takes the blame.

I am not usually the biggest fan of chick-flicks but really enjoyed The Devil Wears Prada. Alright, that's not quite true, I like chick-flicks. The performances were wonderful and it was a fun movie overall. I wonder if some of the fun came from the fact that, because I been recently watching Project Runway, I've learned more about fashion. In any case, I'd recommend it. It is the perfect material for a lazy Sunday.