Streep: 15 stars out of ten-- film 8 out of 10

Rating: 8/10 (1 July 2006)

Streep: 15 Stars out of 10. The movie: 8 out of 10
Streep plays a boss who lives for her work. She loves her work and becomes the best in the Cosmos at it. She can't tolerate fools gladly--and if she did she would be taking away from the energy she gives solely to her company. It's all for the company.
She needs what she needs NOW and not later and expects to get it. Underlings don't understand; and some of them hate her for it, others merely fear her. None understand that her genius requires, deserves the instant gratification the Miranda (Streep) demands.
Streep masters this part; as an actor she starts at the top and rises still higher. But, except for Stanley Tucci, everyone else in the cast is just coasting. Anne Hathaway is miscast as Andrea, the second assistant, --she doesn't look or fit the part; she's weak, mooney, and her boyfriend, Nate, Adrian Grienier, is just a pretty face playing a sous chef, (well, Woody sees something in him, as he's in a Woody Allen film but, I don't know. I kept wishing that he'd leave the sixties and get a haircut. We've seen his act already in a thousand pictures from the sixties.)
Stanley Tuccci is fine as a gay guy in the company. Loyal to Miranda, helpful to Andrea, he dances though the film and adds to every scene they give him.
Besides the comedy, film goers will note there's a serious theme in the film too.
mek