Review: The Devil Wears Prada

When this movie ended, I walked out and would have walked right back in to see it again if I wouldn't have had to get home. I loved it, loved every minute of it.

I can't remember when I thoroughly enjoyed a movie more, truly. I haven't read the book, and I'm not sure I will now, so I can't tell you how well it did or did not follow through on the original, but the story was great.

Not a new story, no; one that's been told umpteen times...but this one was told so...well...fashionably. And the role of the "Devil's" assistant, Andy Sachs (played by the luscious Anne Hathaway--a breath of fresh air herself because the girl actually has some meat on her bones), was handled realistically.

She didn't make some of the mistakes I expected her to make (having seen this oft-told story played out before)--the tale of an ingenuous and dedicated young woman (or man) who comes to the Big City with the plan of being a journalist (or some other sort of philanthropic position), but who gets sucked into a job in a high stress, demanding, rich world. And begins to fall for it.

It took a long time for the frumpy Andy to really fall for it, and even as she started to on the outside, it took longer before she really started to make the decisions that eventually led to her epiphany.

I bought into her actions and rejoiced when she held back from making choices that I (and every other theater-goer) knew would end in disaster. Yes, she did make some unfortunate decisions, but none that I couldn't buy into why she did.

Part of the reason I so loved the flick was because of the amazing Meryl Streep. She was fabulous...so cold, so cool, and with the flick of an eyelash, she would make her point. This was a perfect role for her and she was magnificent. She never raised her voice, never even raised an eyebrow.

One of the lines that really resonated with me, because, of course, it was supposed to, was when she said to Andy, "Everyone wants to be us." And she fixes a smile on her face, and gets out of the her limo and steps into a sea of waiting photographers.

All I could think was, "She's right."

And then, "But, no...she's not."

Interestingly enough, one of my friends who'd read the book said that she felt that the "big denouement" of the book was a bit of a let-down--it wasn't the big event she expected based on the way the book was set up.

So I was interested in seeing how it was handled in the movie. And I think the way the movie handled it was perfect. It didn't need to be a big dramatic blowout...because that's not how real life is.

Yes, there are people like Miranda Priestly (the eponymous devil) in the world. And there are, thank God, people like Andy...who realize what really is important in life without completely destroying their life before they figure it out.

Anyway, I won't say anything more except: go see it. You won't be disappointed.

Review: The Devil Wears Prada

http://colleengleason.blogspot.com/2006/06/review-devil-wears-prada.html