The Devil Wears Prada (DVD, 2006)

This clever, funny big-screen adaptation of Lauren Weisberger's best-seller takes some of the snarky bite out of the chick lit book, but smoothes out the characters' boxy edges to make a more satisfying movie. There's no doubt The Devil Wears Prada belongs to Meryl Streep, who turns in an Oscar-worthy (seriously!) strut as the monster editor-in-chief of Runway, an elite fashion magazine full of size-0, impossibly well-dressed plebes. This makes new second-assistant Andrea (Anne Hathaway), who's smart but an unacceptable size 6, stick out like a sore thumb. Streep has a ball sending her new slave on any whimsical errand, whether it's finding the seventh (unpublished) Harry Potter book or knowing what type she means when she wants "skirts." Though Andrea thumbs her nose at the shallow world of fashion (she's only doing the job to open doors to a position at The New Yorker someday), she finds herself dually disgusted yet seduced by the perks of the fast life. The film sends a basic message: Make work your priority, and you'll be rich and powerful... and lonely. Any other actress would have turned Miranda into a scenery-chewing Cruella, but Streep's underplayed, brilliant comic timing make her a fascinating, unapologetic character. Adding frills to the movie's fun are Stanley Tucci as Streep's second-in-command, Emily Blunt as the overworked first assistant, Simon Baker as a sexy writer, and breathtaking couture designs any reader of Vogue would salivate over.

When Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep) lets her hair down with Andrea Sachs (played by Ann Hathaway) in Paris, after she has let Andrea know that Miranda's husband, Steven, does not need to be picked up at the airport since he has decided to sue for divorce, Andrea fully identifying with Miranda's situation (one can see it so well in Ann Hathaway's face, and one should not underestimate Ann Hathaway's performance), asks Miranda, "Is there anything else I can do?" Miranda quickly settles back into her normal "hauteur" and replies, "Your job."

That is exactly what one can say that everyone involved with this film has done. The writer of the screenplay, McKenna (if I remember correctly) has gone farther than the original book by Lauren Weisberger and has given the devil her due. The cutting and editing are simply perfect. The music is admirably chosen and sometimes proves to be a link between one scene and another (e.g., between Andrea's scene with her boyfriend Nate and the quick cut to the Urban Jungle shoot). (It is well worth buying the CD for the music, as I have done as well.) One has to see this movie more than one time and it is well worth doing so. It is easy to notice Meryl Streep's admirable performance at first, but another viewing lets one see the slow but perfect development of Andrea (an everyman -- or everywoman -- a Faustian character, e.g., Emily's comment: "I knew you sold your soul when you tried on your first pair of Jimmy Choo's." But Stanley Tucci's (Nigel) and Emily Blunt's (Emily) roles are simply perfect as well. Even the minor characters, Nate and Christian, are really well done, though they are perhaps more "fifth business" rather than central characers, even though they are central characters, but somewhat sketchily developed. Nigel's (Tucci), "[Fashion] It's art, but greater than art, because it's something which you wear on your back -- well, not you, but some people," etc. and the comment by the Newspaper Editor at the end of the movie about some snooty girl, such a fun, perfect, snooty girl. One can see her other side when she tells Andrea's successor, "You have big shoes to fill."

One can go on and on, one can comment on every scene, every line, but the sum of it is where I began. It is as if Miranda Priestly was in charge of everything and everyone did their job. (If the whole thing was a take on Vogue's Anna Wintour -- or her predecessors, Grace Mirabella or Diana Vreeland -- or her counterparts at other similar publications, like Harper's Bazaar, none of them should feel any objection at all, for in the end, they all did their job, or as Andrea told Christian, (paraphrase) "If it were a man doing Miranda's job, there would be no criticism."

I watched the movie in the theater 10 times and on the DVD I watched it again, and then again with the Director's comments and the deleted scenes. The deleted scenes were wonderful, but, yes, they were rightly deleted from the movie itself, to pace it properly (so once again, everyone did their job).

The last time I was so impressed with a film was in 1979 with the movie "Time after Time," starring Malcolm McDowell and Mary Steenbergen and about H.G. Well's really having a time machine and coming to 1979 with Jack the Ripper a.k.a., his friend, a Doctor Stevenson. In that movie, there was only one scene (in the bank) which I thought didn't fit, but otherwise, well put together.

It isn't that a movie is (or attempts to be) profound. "Apocalypse Now" had profound in

The Devil Wears Prada originally reminded me a bit of the story line in The Secret of My Success, the Michael J. Fox film of 1987 about a kid from a small mid-western town who goes to New York to find his fortune, and who struggles mightily to gain a foothold before eventually figuring out how to play the game.

However, this yarn is far superior. Anne Hathaway is rapidly becoming my favorite young actress and she is delightful in this role. As Andrea Sachs, Hathaway is delightful and believable opposite an imposing and ruthless Meryl Streep, as Amanda Priestly. Streep presents another flawless performance as Priestly, Managing Editor of Runway, a Vogue type fashion magazine, and she loathes and disrespects her new "second assistant", Sachs from the beginning. It's just amazing how Streep can occupy a character and make us hate her. The film's title proves totally appropriate when referring to Amanda Priestly.

It's evident from the outset that she intends to humiliate and embarrass this hayseed who knows nothing about real fashion. It takes a bit longer for the youngster's contempt for her boss to show through her mid-western manners, and there are lots of funny situations along the way. Eventually, her disgust begins to evolve into respect, and before long, she is offered a promotion to "first assistant", but she must first demote Emily, the girl who holds the job, played by a very amusing Emily Blunt. Eventually, Andrea must choose between the glimmer of the big city and the values that took her there.

We watched this film with our teenage daughters, and it was entertaining for everyone. We strongly recommend it.

Its one of the best movie Ive seen this year. Great acting and absolutely funny and very unpredictable and fresh scenes.

Its about a story of an ordinary lady's (Anne Hathaway) dream, to hit big in her career in journalism. She finally got her big break when she got the chance to work with a huge fashion magazine company as the personal assistant of the Editor in Chief. The job was not directly related to journalism, but being the Personal Assistant of the Editor in Chief of a very popular fashion magazine is the first step and a great chance to make the connection and hit it big with her journalism career. But the daily chores of the being the personal assistant of super busy bossy boss was more challenging than she thought, way tougher and had consumes all her time including her personal time away from family and friends. THe fear of being fired by her terror boss, and the drive to pursue her dream job was enough to remain in her challenging and exhausting responsibily as personal assistant and she put all her time and effort trying to impress her boss all day everyday, that slowly took time away from her family and real friends. She stayed in her job for awhile until she realized that achieving her dream is not really worth it when she is losing her family and friends and she started hurting people along the way.

Highly reccommended, well worth it. Its full of funny scenes, great storyline, and valuable lesson to learn.

The best selling novel hits the big screen in "The Devil Wears Prada." Anne Hatheway stars as a goofy, fashionless assistant to Meryl Streep who plays a ruthless fashion godess. As the movie progresses, Hatheway has to choose between love, friendship, loyalty, sanity, and the success of her job for her ruthless boss. The acting is well done and the story closely follows the bestselling novel. There are some weaknesses to the film, but all in all it's not bad. The ending does leave something to be desired. All in all a good, fun film, but most viewers probably won't put this one on thier all time favorites list.