Dylan's Movie Review: "The Devil Wears Prada"

"The Devil wears Prada" is a movie Horatio Alger would have been proud of. The basic story, that of a young woman clawing her way through the catty world of fashion magazines, has all the basic elements of his classic turn of the century, pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps novels.

The main character, Andy Sachs (Anne Hathaway), fits into the role of young yet hardworking low-level employee attempting to rise. Just out of Northwestern University, she views the job that she receives from Runway magazine as merely a step to greater and larger things. This, unfortunately, results in her being apart and derisive of the world that she's forced to be a part of. She's never heard of the woman that she's assisting, Miranda Priestly, a fact that, combined with her wardrobe, causes her co-workers to be as derisive of her as she is of them.

Miranda Priestly, played by Meryl Streep, rules over her office with an iron fist. Possessing a demenour resembling a predator amongst a flock of hapless prey, she hurls unreasonable demands towards her underlings, backed up by projectiles. While she is irrational and selfish, she also displays the requisite qualities of success needed within the fashion industry. The movie makes sure to show that Priestly has brains, ambition, and ruthlessness to match, to complement her more inhuman qualities.

The other backing characters also show these nuances, as contrasted to the same characters within the novel of the same name. Emily (Emily Blunt), the other assistant to Ms. Priestly, receives an intelligence and way with insults that was non-existent in the novel, while Nigel (Stanley Tucci), the art director, displays a sharp wit as well as being the soul-dead sellout previously portrayed. This greater depth of character also extends to the more saintly characters. Andy's live-in boyfriend Nate (Adrian Grenier) is slightly less derisive of the fashion world than his counterpart, something that could just as easily be said about the movie as a whole.

As mentioned in the previous paragraph, the movie was actually adapted from a novel by Lauren Weisberger, who spent a year as the personal assistant of Anna Wintour, editor of Vogue magazine. The novel, and therefore the movie, are largely based on this experience. However, the novel largely reflects Weisberger's urge for revenge, whereas the movie takes a more realistic look.

This is reflected in Andy's greater and greater involvement in Runway and Priestly herself. She begins neglecting her boyfriend, and after repeatedly putting office work over her previous dreams. As shown this stems from a realistic view of the perks and good points of the fashion industry. Benefits include trips to Paris with Ms. Preistly, as well as various pieces of clothing. This eventually results in Andy being forced to chose between her past and her present.

The movie follows a pretty straightforward plotline, half Horatio Alger, half chick flick. Despite this fact, the performances given by the main characters, especially Meryl Streep, as well as the wit displayed throughout the film transcend the gender, creating a film that is genuinely enjoyable to watch.