The Devil Wears Prada

I was really excited about The Devil Wears Prada, because when award nominations started coming out I basically hadn't seen any of the top rated female performances of last year. Overall I have to admit to being a little disappointed. It's well made, and it's great to see a well-made, enjoyable film of a female experience, which being grumpy and critical I rarely do.

So The Devil Wears Prada was certainly stylish and funny enough to charm me. Meryl Streep is excellent, and I positively adored Anne Hathaway's character. Emily Blunt and Stanley Tucci put in delightful supporting performances, and the four of them do make it a film well worth seeing, and earn the film all its props.
My complaint is that the story of Andy Sachs' rude introduction to, seduction by, and rejection of the fashion world is such a well-worn story, it's hard not to know where it's all going within the first fifteen minutes, and when this started to sink in, I found it hard to maintain interest in the second half.

I suppose my real problem is it doesn't feel like it has a lot to say about this meme, about fashion or powerful women, or even Andy Sachs, outside of a few tantalizing moments, like when Sachs first dares to snort a bit at how far up their own asses the fashionistas she works with are. Miranda Priestly (Streep) breaks down everything she wears in terms of its relation to high fashion and how Sachs is using her fashion choices to present an image of herself, and completely punctures the air of superiority surrounding Sachs' view of herself, by reminding her that we cannot live outside our culture, and that culture includes Runway Magazine. I wish it had gone further along this line, and had showed a real transformation for Sachs, since her wardrobe throughout the film is a barometer for changes in her character. Instead she goes from dressing in the dark to runway model and back to dressing in the dark... by the end, she's back to where she started and her wardrobe more than anything tells us that.

There were other threads that could have been the basis for this to be a great movie, but ultimately The Devil Wears Prada is only a good movie, albeit full of great actors in smashing outfits.