(2006 USA) Color Feature
Language: English
Director: David Frankel
Starring: Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt
Subject: Comedy, Drama
Type: "Straight"
-- by Tom Musbach
You don't have to be a Carson Kressley to enjoy "The Devil Wears Prada," a new movie that revels in the competitive and glamorous world of fashion magazines. Sure, the fashionistas among us will dig the couture and name-dropping -- Jimmy Choo pumps, Valentino gowns and Chanel boots, for starters -- but the main attraction is a mesmerizing and comic star turn by Meryl Streep as a chic, bitchy diva.
Streep plays Miranda Priestly, who as editor of Runway magazine is the most powerful woman in fashion. The woman instills fear among magazine staffers, and she goes through assistants like eyeliner pencils. She takes a chance on Andy Sachs, played by Anne Hathaway, who is a scrappy applicant with little interest in fashion. Andy's real passion is journalism, but she's nonetheless willing to do what it takes to get ahead -- even if it means taking abuse 24/7 in high heels as Miranda's assistant, errand girl and coat rack.
Andy gets little help from Miranda's other assistant, Emily, but she finds an ally in Nigel, Runway's fastidious art director (Stanley Tucci). Nigel gives some quick tips on fashion and survival to Andy at the right times, and before long she is handling Miranda's demands with panache. At the same time, Andy goes through a bit of an "ugly duckling" transformation that leads her to an identity crisis. She will ultimately have to choose between two personas and two very different boyfriends -- a lovable sous chef (Adrian Grenier) or a dashing, successful writer (Simon Baker).
The film has many sumptuous trappings -- gorgeous fashions with loads of accessories, glittery settings in New York and Paris and a fine soundtrack. I've had the urge to see the film again just to soak in many of the details I missed on the first viewing.
But the film's biggest treat is Streep's performance. While the character of Miranda in Lauren Weisberger's novel was inspired by Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, the film adaptation's Miranda seems entirely unique. She never raises her voice, never loses her focus and never suffers incompetence. She has undeniable presence, and it makes you pay attention.
Streep delivers many of her sarcasm-dripping lines with a withering calm, as when she tells a fumbling Andy, "Feel free to move at a glacial pace. You know how that thrills me."
Streep is also stunning, with her dozens of costume changes and her short, side-swooping gray coif, which is bound to start a new style among middle-aged women. While Miranda is a larger-than-life character, Streep's performance is never over-the-top; she always finds the pathos, intelligence and humor in Miranda's ultra-glamorous yet highly demanding life. The incomparable actress often does it with a simple look or a change of expression, and those details definitely make me want to see the film again.
