Very thin, unsatisfying movie

Rating: 4/10 (1 July 2006)

The Devil Wears Prada: I just saw most of it (I left with about fifteen minutes to go). It wasn't awful, but it doesn't really go anywhere. You know the set-up -- girl gets hired by "boss from hell" (who isn't really THAT bad) -- and the rest of the movie is: 1) Boss demands something 2) Assistant figures out how to get it done Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.
For variation, there's 1) Boss is angry about something 2) Assistant figures out how to placate her Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.
VERY MINOR SPOILER AHEAD: In between are scenes with her boyfriend or other friends to show that she has a life, and also that she's changing because she's so busy all the time. There's a scene where she misses her boyfriend's birthday party which is CLEARLY written by a woman -- the situation and the way her boyfriend responds is what women do, not what men do.
Meryl Streep is good in it, but she really doesn't have a whole lot to do. She takes an underwritten, one note part, and fleshes it out so it's a chord. (For an example of how NOT to play her part, all you have to do is look at assistant #1 -- she's very poor in the role.) Stanley Tucci's very good, Anne Hathaway does all right.
There's a way to have done this: it could've been anecdotal, like Woody Allen did so well when he didn't really have a story for Radio Days or -- better example -- Broadway Danny Rose. This thing just spins its wheels the whole time.
It's not bad-natured, though, which helps.