Devil Wears Prada Review

The world is full of young, determined professionals who work hard and dedicate themselves to achieving their dreams. Some of these individuals never reach their ultimate goals while others manage to achieve what they want, but often at a price. This theme appears often in cinema and one movie that follows this tune is The Devil Wears Prada, a comedy/drama about life in the world of publishing.

Contents of This Movie:

Andy Sachs (played by Anne Hathaway) is a young professional who dreams of a life in journalism. She arrives in New York to fulfill her career aspirations and lands a job as the assistant to the editor at Runway- a fashion magazine run by an arrogant, ruthless boss. The job Andy accepts isn't journalistic at all but she accepts it anyway, hoping it will lead to greater things.

Andy's boss is a Miranda (played by Meryl Streep), a merciless, mean- spirited type who doesn't care what other think and is prepared to run the show her way. Andy shares her office with Emily (played by Emily Blunt), a woman who provides Andy with tips on what is acceptable in her new position and how she should behave to avoid termination.

Andy does everything she can to please her boss, including a change to her own wardrobe. But Miranda continues to push and at one point she insists that Andy obtain the manuscript to the soon- to- be- published Harry Potter novel. Andy persists, just to keep things running smoothly on the job. But in the process she loses many things that are ultimately more important.

Movie Commentary:

The Devil Wears Prada is a good film and most of it is spent dealing with Meryl Streep's Miranda character; detailing her ruthless, uncaring persona as she verbally degrades her workers and has everyone around her walking on eggshells. Streep is excellent in this role and she is the main reason I recommend watching this movie. Her Miranda character is cold and arrogant, but not as completely obnoxious as she could be. Miranda never raises her voice and often expresses herself very effectively without saying a word. Streep deserves all the credit for making this character so enjoyable to watch and she, alone, makes the movie worth viewing.

All of the other performers are very good in this film, including Anne Hathaway in the lead role, Stanley Tucci, Emily Blunt, and others. It was interesting to watch Hathaway's character as she stumbles into this job with a fashion magazine, hoping to use it as a stepping stone to a career in journalism. She changes many things about herself simply to please those around her in the business and ultimately sacrifices much of her personal life. 

Where Devil Wears Prada falls short is with the screenplay and the lack of deeper examination of the fashion and publishing industries. A great motion picture could be made about a subject like this but David Frankel decides to keep Devil Wears Prada on the simple side. The movie does a good job with its cross examination of that sensitive area where personal lives and business lives cross each other but it doesn't go far enough to be considered a classic film.

Bottom Line:

Overall, Devil Wears Prada is a good movie with some funny moments but mostly a serious message about work and play. The movie reminds me in some ways of the hit series Sex in the City (David Frankel directed some of the Sex in the City shows) and it succeeds mostly because of the performance of Hollywood veteran Meryl Streep. Take Meryl Streep out of this picture and you would have another second- rate run of the mill movie destined for ever growing Hollywood bin of mediocrity. But with Streep performing so well and the rest of the cast contributing very good performances as well, Devil Wears Prada turns out to be a good enough film to recommend.