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I first saw The Devil Wears Prada while I was in America during the summer. It wasn't something I would have picked myself, due to thinking that it was all going to be about fashion and shoes and bags and all that kinda thing that really doesn't interest me. But I did see it, and I did enjoy it. I was given the book as a gift for Christmas, so I thought it was time to revisit the movie to see how well it had made the changeover.
*** Plot *** Andrea Sachs is a small town gal trying to make it in the big bad city. An aspiring author, she's fresh out of college and looking for an editorial job somewhere. When Andrea first walks into the Runway offices, she knows nothing about fashion, and doesn't particularly care to know either. Through some twisted hand of fate, the fashion-naive Andrea ends up as the junior assistant to the most powerful woman in the fashion industrial - a rather controlling woman by the name of Miranda Priestly, Editor in Chief of Runway magazine. The job has absolutely nothing to do with the journalistic career Andrea is yearning for, but, and this is what really gains her interest, one year working with Miranda Priestly will land her any job any where - including her dream job as a journalist with the New Yorker. It's only a year, how hard can it be?
Turns out, very! Miranda is quite possibly the most demanding boss ever, running a very tight ship - everything must be perfectly executed and fulfilled within minutes of her very vague instructions - 'I need 10-15 skirts. That's all.'- and heaven forbid you ever leave the phones unmanned! It's a job millions of girls would die for, but unfortunately Andrea isn't one of them, and getting
through those twelve months becomes the bane of her life.
After a few months of comments about her clothes, shoes, hair, and weight, Andrea starts to get into their way of thinking, and befriends Nigel (one of the fashion coordinators) develops a wardrobe that is finally acceptable, learns to style her hair , wears the right shoes, and allows the job to take over her entire life. In the process, of course, the rest of her life falls apart - similar story with her boyfriend who decides they need a break; she even loses what makes her 'Andrea'. But surely it's worth it; it's the job a million girls would die for after all.
The biggest fashion event of the year is held in Paris every year. The senior assistant, Emily, usually goes, but circumstances unravel that mean Andrea is the one who gets to go, even after Emily has planned and prepped and starved for months. Yet another reason for Andrea's personal life to fall down the drain - thanks to Miranda Priestly.
*** Main Characters and Actors *** ~ 'Andrea Sachs' - Anne Hathaway ~ Yet another movie for Anne Hathaway where the ugly girl gets a makeover to become attractive and in the process becomes more successful, she seems to have perfected the art now. While she probably wouldn't have been my first choice for the role, she depicts Andrea well and in a move quite rare for Hollywood movies recently, is the perfect age for the 'just out of college' girl.
~ 'Miranda Priestly' - Meryl Streep ~ A great choice for Miranda; everything about her is just as described in the book. Meryl Streep portrays the perfect Cruella De Vile type character, while remaining capable of displaying just the right amount of emotion when the time calls for it. She doesn't even have to open her mouth at times, her face and eyes and body language convey so much more than words ever could have. But when she does speak, she has the accent mastered perfectly.
~ 'Emily' - Emily Blunt ~ Not someone I'd ever of before but she clearly has talent. The character of Emily is very manipulative and quite two faced towards Andrea, and Emily Blunt pulls that off nicely. She also very much looks the part of a Runway girl. Rumour has it that she demanded that she keep her native English accent rather than making the character Emily an American. Somehow, something as simple as an accent brings a lot to the character, surrounded by Americans.
~ 'Nigel' - Stanley Tucci ~ The Nigel of the movie has a much larger role than the one in the book, and Tucci was another great choice. He has quite a familiar face, but his credit list doesn't include many big pictures. He portrays Nigel in a perfect way, coming across just caring enough to befriend the newbie Andrea, but still harsh at times that he fits in with the Runway image. Tucci also gives the character a certain air, that leaves you wondering whether he is in fact gay, or just very in touch with his feminine side!
~ Soundtrack ~ There are some great soundtrack choices in this movie, some very upbeat tracks when they are appropriate, and quieter numbers at other times. This is one of the first movies in a long while where I would consider buying the soundtrack CD as I liked the vast majority of the tracks on it.
~ Book to movie transition ~ From the very first page of the book, the movie is quite different. The book starts with Andy already working for Miranda and she goes through the interview process by flashback. I much prefer the movie way of actually starting at the beginning, before the interview and job ever begin.
For the next half of the book or so, the movie is near identical while the endings are strikingly different. All the way through the book, the character of Lily has a much bigger role, and the ending shows Andy's devotion to her friends (although it takes her a while to realise it) and her hatred of Miranda, through a big public scene. The movie ending is much less dramatic and quite disappointing once you know the 'real' ending.
I would have liked to have seen much more of the Lily storyline in the movie, as it showed that more than just taking over her day time life, the job destroys Andy's friendships and relationships - everything. The small amount of 'Lily' that did make it to the movie is very different to the book - she works in some art gallery, whereas the book Lily is studying for a postgraduate thing. Also, for some bizarre reason, in the book the boyfriend she loses is called Alex, and in the movie he is Nate. Why?!
~ Overall ~ This is a good movie. It's definitely a chick-flick, but it isn't just for the fashion conscious girls. It's marketed as a comedy, but isn't overly funny, nor is it overly romantic (even though there are numerous love interests) so that just leaves 'drama' which the movie fulfils nicely.
While I did like the movie, some of the messages it conveys aren't all that great. The transition that Andrea makes to become one of the Runway girls, giving up things she believes in just for her job, completely changing who she is and how she dresses to be liked and successful … that's not the right message to be sending out!
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The Devil Wears Prada
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Comedy - Director: Tony Dow - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring: John Challis, David Jason, Nicholas Lyndhurst, Tessa Peake-Jones, Gwyneth Strong
Comedy - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring: Tessa Peake-Jones, Buster Merryfield, David Jason, Nicholas Lyndhurst
Comedy - Director: Richard Boden, Mandie Fletcher, Martin Shardlow - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Hugh Laurie, Miranda Richardson, Stephen Fry, Brian Blessed, Tim McInnerny, Tony Robinson, Rowan Atkinson
Based on the hilarious best-selling novel, this stylish and funny movie starring Meryl ... more
Streep and Anne Hathaway is a sensational must-see.As assistant to impossibly demanding New York fashion magazine editor Miranda Prestly (Streep), young Andy Sachs (...
![The Devil Wears Prada [DVD] [2006]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/78188044.jpg "The Devil Wears Prada [DVD] [2006]")
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