Review of The Devil Wears Prada (2006) by Vaikelly — 24 Mar 2011

The first thing to notice about THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA is that it is precisely what it offers - fashion and its cut-throat business. An adaptation of Lauren Weisberger's 2003 novel, it is neatly directly by David Frankel, which is surprising since most of his work usually comprises of the light-hearted family genre.

Frankel does one thing particularly well, he lets Meryl Streep, that iconic of all actors, room to breathe life in her character, Miranda Priestley, the ruthless editor in chief of the Runaway magazine, who has scant respect and patience for people, especially those she considers to be incompetent and unprofessional.

I was fascinated with Streep's portrayal, she has something that makes her so powerfully alluring, almost hypnotic-like, and she lives and breathes Miranda every scene, every little nuance. Anne Hathaway is no less powerful as Andrea Sachs, the aspiring small town journalist with some impressive literary credentials, who clearly is a misfit in the Runaway scheme of things.

Emily Blunt's Emily Charlton, Miranda's senior assistant, clearly doesn't give Andrea much hope, or even encouragement. Emily Blunt is wonderful as Emily, but I didn't get it - considering how particularly precise and impatient as Miranda is, how could she suffer Emily's British accent and her unconvincing work performance is just beyond me! Stanley Tucci is another actor who rises above his material and truly lends solidity to his roles - I especially enjoyed the final scenes when Miranda deftly puts the new charge of leadership to her rival Jacqueline Follet, and Tucci's Nigel responds as Nigel truly would.

His mannerisms and emotion, that he tries subtly to hide and disguise even in the face of such a tumultous storm, is just a sight to behold. "I know she'll pay me back" is his response. Just what you'd expect from Nigel.

Andrea learns lessons about life, not just in the fashion world, but in her own life. Her personal life takes a hit, her boyfriend cannot believe that she's changing as rapidly as she is, her own two best friends think the fashion world is swallowing her.

No doubt, she is Miranda Priestley's assistant, doing a job that 'millions of girls would kill for," but Andrea is pleasantly unaware of and even contemptuous of this reality. It is gratifying to see that Hathaway's character is so absolutely unlike Streep's.

...Andrea's easy-going, carefree lifestyle, her choice of words in the most unpleasant of situations, is the exact opposite of all that Miranda Priestley lives and breathes in. The scene where Miranda talks to Andrea, after Andrea had been witness to Miranda and her husband's fight, Miranda's lines and the pain across her face and her emotions.

...that is Streep at her finest. A vortex of emotions and intricate, subtle gestures of the face, hands, true inner emotions, Streep portrays them all as easily and as beautifully as anyone has ever done on celluloid.

In conclusion, this movie's not particularly boring or dull. It is fast-paced, but has ample show of Streep, Hathaway, and Tucci's characters. I gave it a 7 out of 10, not out of necessity, but because I think it's just good enough for it.