Review

The Devil Wears Prada
Director: David Frankel
Writer: Aline Brosh McKenna
Cast:  Denzel Washington, Anne Hathaway, Stanley Tucci
Genre: Comedy/Drama
Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 109mins

The Devil Wears Prada is being positioned as a movie for grown-ups and others who know what, or who, or when, or where, Prada is.
Anne Hathaway stars, as a fresh-faced Midwesterner (Andy Sachs)who comes to New York seeking her first job. “I just graduated from Northwestern,” she explains. “I was editor of the Daily Northwestern!” Yes! It had been a thrill to edit the student newspaper, but now, as I walked down Madison Avenue, I realised I was headed for the big time!
Andy stills dresses like an undergraduate, which offends Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep), the powerful editor of Runway, the famous fashion magazine. Miranda, who is a cross between Anna Wintour, Graydon Carter and a dominatrix, stands astride the world of fashion in very expensive boots. She throws things (her coat, her purse) at her assistants, rattles off tasks to be done immediately, and demands “the new Harry Potter” in “three hours”. No, not the new book in the stores. The unpublished manuscript of the next book. Her twins want to read it. So get two copies.
Young Sachs gets a job as the assistant to Miranda’s assistant. That’s Emily (Emily Blunt), who is terrified of Miranda. She is blunt to Andy, and tells her: She’ll need to get rid of that wardrobe, devote 24 hours a day to the job, and hope to God she remembers all of Miranda’s commands. I was impressed when I first saw the famous Miranda Priestly. She had the poise of Meryl Streep, the authority of Condoleezza Rice, and was better-dressed than anyone I’d ever met, except the Northwestern Dean of Women. And now she was calling my name! Gulp!
The Devil Wears Prada is based on the best-selling novel by Lauren Weisberger. This novel was on the New York Times best-seller list for six months.
Meryl Streep is indeed poised and imperious as Miranda, and Anne Hathaway is a great beauty who makes a convincing career girl. I liked Stanley Tucci, too, as Nigel, the magazine’s fashion director, who is kind and observant despite being a careerist slave. But I thought the movie should have reversed the roles played by Grenier and Baker. Grenier comes across like the slick New York writer, and Baker seems the embodiment of Midwestern sincerity, which makes sense, because he is from Australia, the Midwest of the southern hemisphere.
              
— Roger Ebert