Forget about Meryl Streep, forget about Anne Hathaway  Emily Blunt's is the standout performance

Rating: 6/10 (25 October 2006)

... in an otherwise forgettable fluff of a film that remains afloat, but falls apart a little due to morals and messages. There has certainly been buzz surrounding Meryl Streep's devilishly delicious performance as the cold Prada editor, and rightly so, for she does a fine job, capturing the tingling sarcasm in her character's voice, the pursing of her lips and the icy chill in her voice. She perfectly gets her bitch on. However let me debunk the myth that 'The Devil Wears Prada' is exclusively Streep's show: Hathaway's competitive assistant at Runway Magazine is a blunt scene-stealer whose emotional transparency translates sharply into a bitchy-yet-likable-young-career woman. Hopefully we'll see more of her...
When Andy Sachs (Hathaway) first steps foot into the prestigious Runway building  fresh out of Northwestern university and no interest whatsoever in the couture scene  she it met by a world of rapid-fire fashion jargon, cruel stares from skinny models and sass from superiors. It is a whole world of hierarchies, codes and fancy dresses (Runway is more than "just a magazine", after all) but arguably the first thing that jumps out and grabs you is Emily Blunt as Streep's assistant Emily  the sole survivor. The first half of the 'Prada' is an assured success due to its fast-paced navigation of the fashion industry and its many colourful characters like Nigel and Emily; it sucks you in. Hathaway fully reprises 'Princess Diaries' here but it works.
Next it regrettably initiates a process of ticking off clichéd ingredients from a standard formula: the homely-yet-likable-girl makes progress at work, she goes through the mandatory makeover moment from the gay designer and comes out stunningly pretty, her rivalries' jaws open, her boss approves. Cut to her private life, which takes a backseat in the film, but nonetheless suffers the more involved and ambitious she gets at work. The film raises questions such as, how far will she go to get what she wants? Will she conform? Will she be sucked in? Prada tiptoes around these notions for a bit but there is always the underlying message that says a woman has got to choose: love or career. Nice going on the equality front there, Hollywood. Way to perpetuate gender roles.
Nevertheless, 'The Devil Wears Prada' is a good little diversion and for fashion buffs it must surely be heaven, or at least a petit mort, because the amount of product placement is baffling. Undoubtedly high-fashion labels such as Karl Lagerfeld and Jimmy Choo have paid good cash to be 'casually integrated' in the film. There is also a totally solid soundtrack that accompanies key scenes, such as the opening montage of Hathaway getting dressed in the morning in frumpy clothes while juxtaposed with the high-fashion models and their sleek outfits. Fun, but ultimately highly clichéd and too peppered with sexist messages to fully work.
"That's all."
6 out of 10