The Devil Wears Prada

Lauren Weisberger's best-selling novel about a young woman who stumbles into the hectic worlds of high fashion and publishing comes to the big screen in this comedy. Andrea "Andy" Sachs (Anne Hathaway) is a bright young woman from the Midwest who has just graduated from college and wants to work as a magazine writer. Andy has applied for a job at "Runway," America's most prestigious fashion journal; though Andy has little to no interest in the garment trade, they are one of the only magazines in New York with a job opening — second assistant to editor Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep). As Andy quickly learns, Miranda is a diva with plenty of power within the magazine business and she isn't afraid to use it, and though Andy lands the job (primarily by being in the right place at the right time), she soon learns that working for Miranda could test the patience of a saint thanks to her endless demands and refusal to acknowledge the end of a work day. Andy struggles to hold on to the job and her sanity, knowing that a recommendation from Miranda can open nearly any door at any magazine, but can she handle the pressure without losing her mind along the way? The Devil Wears Prada also stars Stanley Tucci, Emily Blunt, and Adrian Grenier.

AMG Review: The Devil Wears Prada starts off like a female version of the scathing Hollywood satire Swimming with Sharks, but changes gears at the midway point to become a very pedestrian tale about a twentysomething learning how to maintain personal integrity. The "you-go-girl" aspects of The Devil Wears Prada are handled well, if not exactly memorably, and neither of the male romantic interests manage to generate much chemistry with Anne Hathaway. Luckily, the film offers enough interesting performances in the supporting roles to overcome the standard-issue storyline. Meryl Streep dominates the film as Miranda Priestly, the editor of a trend-setting fashion magazine. While it would be easy to turn the character into a larger-than-life Cruella De Vil, Streep finds exactly the right tone and plays it to perfection. She is scary, funny, strong, and weak not alternately, but all at the same time. She is matched by a reigned-in Stanley Tucci who could take his stereotypical gay male character into familiar territory, but instead turns him into a fully realized person who is just as complex as his boss. If these two had been the center of the film, The Devil Wears Prada might have become a penetrating satire of the fashion industry, but director David Frankel aims for something far less ambitious. To put it in terms that Miranda Priestley would appreciate: the filmmakers thought Hathaway and her character were the perfect little black dress, ready to be dressed up and accessorized with the stellar supporting cast. Unfortunately, the pretty little thing lacks the classic, enduring appeal to which they aspired.