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20th Century Fox present The Devil Wears Prada. Written by Aline Brosh McKenna. Based on the book by Lauren Weisberger. Running Time: 109 minutes. Rated PG-13 for some sensuality.
Director:
David Frankel
Cast:
Meryl Streep”¦”¦”¦.Miranda Priestly
Anne Hathaway..”¦”¦..Andy Sachs
Emily Blunt..”¦”¦..Emily
Stanley Tucci..”¦”¦..Nigel
Adrian Grenier..”¦”¦..Nate
Simon Baker..”¦”¦..Christian Thompson
The Movie:
Anne Hathaway plays Andy Sachs who is fresh out of college with aspirations of becoming a great journalist. Instead she winds up being the second assistant to Miranda Priestly, the editor and chief of Runway magazine. Andy has no interest in fashion but sees this as a great opportunity to further her career. Miranda is the overbearing, demanding, bitch boss from hell played impeccably by Meryl Streep. The longer Andy slaves for Miranda, the further into the world of fashion she falls, drifting away from her friends. Helping ease her into this world is Nigel, played by the always entertaining Stanley Tucci. He hooks her up with all the cloths and accessories she’ll need to fit right in. Andy’s job is put on the line when Miranda asks for a copy of the unpublished manuscript of the latest Harry Potter book for her daughters.
Anne Hathaway is a great leading lady for this film. She’s cute, endearing and very relatable. She’s come along way from her Princess Diaries days and as she matures she’s just going to get better. But it’s Meryl Streep who really sells this film. We’ve all had bosses we hate no matter what the industry and Miranda is the antithesis of all the things we hate about those who tell us what to do.
The place where the film falls into lacking is Andy’s relationship with Nate, better known as Vincent Chase on Entourage. As Andy begins to succeed in her new job her relationship starts to fail. On top of that there’s the handsome successful Christian Thompson (Baker) who can help make her dreams of being a journalist real. Andy and Nate break up before she goes to the city of romance itself, Paris, where Christian makes his move. But, surprise, surprise, Christian turns out to be a real slime ball like all the rest.
This film is surprisingly entertaining. One need not have an interest in fashion to get this film, although it might help. Because Andy is the outsider to this snobby superficial world of skirts and pumps much of the lingo is explained to her and thusly he audience as well. It’s almost like Sex & the City without all the sex. This is a cute, fast paced movie that sadly gets a little bogged down in its predictable ending.
STORY: 7
ACTING: 8
LOOK/FEEL: 8
ORIGINALITY: 7
ENTERTAINMENT VALUE: 8
FINAL SCORE: 7.5
Miranda Priestly: the ultimate boss from hell!
The DVD:
The Video:
The film is presented widescreen 2.35:1. This film is well shot and looks good. Apparently the world of fashion is a very bright and vibrant place. All the colors of the cloths really pop off the screen.
The Audio:
The film is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 surround. The sound of this film is just fine. Nothing really stands out, but nothing to complain about either.
Extras:
Commentary: This commentary is done by all the big dogs of production. While much interesting commentary type information is imparted to the listener, it’s done in a VERY boring way. If you feel the need to listen to this, you could probably get some chores around the house done at the same time.
Featurettes: Trip To The Big Screen, NYC and Fashion, Fashion Visionary Patricia Field, Getting Valentine, and The Boss From Hell. These five featurettes cover every facet of the making of the film. From brining the book to the big screen to the world of fashion and it’s place in the film. These are kinda of interesting, very run of the mill pat our selves on the back type featurettes.
Deleted Scenes (w/ commentary): 15 scenes that at times are interesting but for the most part were deleted for a reason. And as a bonus there’s commentary on these so you can find out exactly what that reason is.
Gag Reel: Amusing. The best part is Stanley Tucci’s adlibs.
