Oh man, this movie has it all! Meryl Streep and Stanley Tucci. Fancy clothes and cosmopolitan locales. Quotable lines. A sympathetic villain. And an epic speech about the colour cerulean.
The Devil Wears Prada film is based on the novel of the same name written by a former assistant to Anna Wintour, editor-in-chief at Vogue, who in turn black-balled the book and film when they came out. Drama! It follows a young journalist, Andy Sachs (Anne Hathaway), who becomes the second assistant to the powerful and super-demanding ice-queen Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep), the EIC of Runway magazine (see the real-life connection?) Although Andy is anything but fashion-conscious, she works hard to prove herself to her boss and fit into her workplace, with a little help from co-worker Nigel (Stanley Tucci), who constantly reminds her that she got the job “a million girls would kill for”. She jumps through many challenging hoops, such as tracking down the unpublished manuscript of the new Harry Potter book for Miranda’s daughters and memorizing the names and faces of a whole gala’s worth of VIPs. The changes she makes in her own life are gradual, but eventually she realizes how much Miranda and Runway have altered her and damaged her relationships to her friends and family. The film climaxes during Paris Fashion Week, where Miranda is proved to be more formidable than ever before, while also revealing her vulnerable side to Andy, and Andy finally decides if she wants to be part of this dangerously glamourous world any longer.
The Devil Wears Prada is a classic film (even guys will like it!) Meryl Streep is extra amazing, nailing a couple tricky monologues and wearing a perfect, snowy, swooping hairdo throughout. The glossy world of high fashion is viewed through both critical and sympathetic eyes. And, it’s just great fun to watch!
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 identical belts.