Just re read my Peppa review and I can't believe how many typos there were! Hopefully I have improve...
Just re read my Peppa review and I can't believe how many typos there were! Hopefully I have improved my standards now!
Member since:17.02.2007
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Its not very often I sit down and watch what I would consider a chick flick nowadays. With two kids and a fella theres often not time and then theres the disagreeing on what to watch. So when my other half went away for a couple of nights I took advantage and watched The Devil Wears Prada knowing it would definately not be his cup of tea. Before I start I would like to point out that as this is a dvd rental it is a review of the film only.
The film was produced in 2006 and directed by David Frankel (previously involved with Sex and The City the TV Show). The screenplay was adapted from Lauren Weisberger's original novel of the same name by Aline Brosh McKenna.
~~Whats it about?~~
The film opens with KT Tunstalls track 'Suddenly I See' which was a good start for me as I love that song. The song accompanies scenes of numerous females getting ready for work. Many of them appear wealthy and image obsessed. They are seen curling eyelashes, donning the latest clothes and hailing taxis. In between these ladies we meet our main character for the film Andrea (Andy) Sachs. She is clearly not from the same world as these other women. She dresses in an average way, wears little make up, catches
the tube and is carrying a battered briefcase.
Andy is on her way to a job interview at Runway magazine as an assistant to the head of the magazine, Miranda Priestley. Andy isn't particularly interested in this job but wants to break into journalism and this is the only opportunity shes been given so far. Her interview doesn't go too well as she doesn't really fit in with the image of the magazine but Miranda takes a chance on her because she seems different to the useless assistants she keeps having to fire.
Andy then has to contend with the day to day struggle of working for Miranda who is a little on the difficult side to say the least. Along with Miranda, Emily the first assistant, also seems to have it in for her. The only person she seems to get along with at the magazine is Nigel the fashion assistant. As the days seem to get longer and more testing Andy considers leaving the job but decides to stick it out for 1 year. Her dad thinks that she is wasting her time and selling herself short but she believes that the job will open doors in the future.
Andy decides to change her image so that Miranda will take her more seriously and enlists the help of Nigel. Aswell as the makeover he also starts to help her out by advising her on the enigma that is Miranda who can't even get her name right.
As Andy starts to achieve things in her job her personal life starts to suffer. She is eventually faced with a difficult dilemma where she has to choose between her career and the right thing to do.
~~The characters and cast~~
The main character in the film is Andy and she is played by actress Anne Hathaway. (Previous roles in The Princess Diaries and Brokeback Mountain) . I personally have never seen her in a film before this but I was impressed with her performance. She transported the character from an average girl with principles to a stylish successful young woman easily making both believable. I found the character very likeable and I was wanting her to succeed.
Meryl Streep is of course the star of the film with her oscar nominated performance as Miranda Priestly. She is the character that you love to hate and she oozes venom. If looks could kill beware of the removal of her glasses! Streeps performance is wonderful, coming across as vicious and yet allowing us to see a snippet of the other side of Miranda. She allows you to see that she has another side but yet she keeps it buried well beneath the surface.
Surprisingly, the character I enjoyed watching the most in the film was the first assistant - Emily (actress Emily Blunt). Another actress I had yet to come across in a film. The character is very hard faced and bitchy in the initial part of the film, but eventually her vulnerability starts to show through with the pressure of her job and the success she wants to achieve. Blunt delivered many a one liner brilliantly. My favourite line from the film is delivered when she is told she has lost some weight:
'Im on this new diet its very effective, well I don't eat anything and when I feel like I'm about to faint I eat a cube of cheese'
~~Overall Opinion~~
This was a very slick film with lots of stylish outfits which is to be expected from a film about the fashion industry. I thoroughly enjoyed the soundtrack with tracks from KT Tunstall as previously mentioned as well as Madonna and Alanis Morissette to name a few. I did find the film reminiscent of the TV series Ugly Betty particularly near the beginning, although Andys character was not as kooky as Betty. All the performances were well cast and enjoyable. Streep and Blunt being the highlights for me. The film moved at an even pace and kept me interested from beginning to end. I labelled this a chick flick at the beginning of my review and I would still class it as this. It was funnier than I expected though and may appeal to a male audience.
~~Film Information~~
Main Cast:
Meryl Streep - Mirnada Priestley Andy Sachs - Anne Hathaway Emily - Emily Blunt Nigel - Stanley Tucci
Director David Frankel
Cert 12 in the UK Running Time 105 minutes
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