Don't Let the Sharks See You Bleed - Why I Liked The Devil Wears Prada

Rating: 8/10 (10 February 2007)

In the cut throat competitive world of retail, fashion, business or just life, the human toll taken to be the best is summed up in The Devil Wears Prada. This is an amazing movie adorned by the polished shark-like performance of Meryl Streep as Miranda Priestly, fashion aficionado and shark extraordinaire. Hemmingway wrote, "He had come up from deep down in the water...he had come up so fast and absolutely without caution....". In other words, in Machiavellian language, "Never let the sharks see you bleed". Streep is as cold and calculating a shark as ever was created on film, but she bleeds in private - what a knock out she is as the successful queen of the size 2 and shrinking Runway. This movie is wonderful because it portrays women getting ahead but paying a big price for success. Ann Hathaway is strong in her role as the idealistic journalist who gets sucked into the fashion world mystique, but not entirely. Hathaway brings a softness to this movie, just the right touch of humor. I suspect The Devil Wears Prada is more than a movie based on a novel. Indeed, I'm sure this educational plot about success is a reflection of life in the glossy fashion lanes of New York and Paris. There are likely thousands of size 2 and smaller trashed runway outfits hanging in consignment stores to prove just how pricey this story's moral really is. I'd like to give the extraordinary acting by Streep and Hathaway a 10 rating - their performances are exceptional. As for the sub-plots, they can be somewhat confusing, especially the fling in Paris, so the 8 is my overall rating.