Pure Brilliance

Rating: 10/10 (9 July 2006)

I have no idea what happened to this movie. Amazingly, director David Frankel turns what could have been simply a fun summer movie, into a brilliantly realized critique on today's fashion society. Not only has he propelled it to the top of the heap of summer films, he transcends them and gives us one of the best movies I have seen in years.
The Devil Wears Prada follows a struggling journalist, Andy Sachs, through her experience working at the fashion magazine Runway. The only problem is, Andy has zero fashion sense, and the Editor-In-Chief, Miranda Priestly is from hell (not literally). So, in typical comedy fashion, Andy must rise to the occasion, learn her lesson about life, and be a better person. The reason this tired plot works so well, is the tongue-in-cheek way the film approaches it. It's as if the creators are winking at you, making fun of that cliché. And the dialog for this movie is absolutely wonderful. It's very reminiscent of the brilliant energy of Gilmore Girls.
Where The Devil Wears Prada shines the brightest, however, is the acting. No movie this year has even been in the same league. Anne Hathaway, who has shown herself to be one darn good actress, is excellent as Andy Sachs. Like everything about this movie, she takes what could have been ordinary and boring, and does something incredible with it. She takes the clichéd role of "hero" and gives a believable, and at times, chilling performance. Plus, when you're able to stand next to Meryl Streep as an actress, you've accomplished something extraordinary. And ah, Meryl it's not unusual for Meryl Streep to be excellent in a movie, but WOW! At one point during the movie, my mouth fell open and I gasped at how incredible she was. It would have been so easy to propel Miranda Priestly into characture land, but she doesn't. In fact, she does quite the opposite. She takes the boss from hell role, and gives it fathoms of depth. At two points in the movie, she lets her character's guard down, and those moments, like I said, are jaw dropping. I can't put into words how amazing she is, you just have to see it.
I don't normally gush over a movie like this, but I can't help myself. Everything about this movie works so well. The cinematography is very clever. It's nothing astounding, but it fits the personality of this movie exactly. The music is wonderful too. Kudos, guys. You had me dancing in the theater; that's how good it was. And you cannot talk about The Devil Wears Prada without mentioning the clothes. They're excellent and paint a very accurate picture of modern fashion. Meryl Streep's wardrobe, in particular, is magnificent. Full of regal coats and furs, she looks simply stunning. And the transformation they work on Anne Hathaway is very good. To see her go from ordinary and bland, to chic and sexy is incredibly entertaining.
Why The Devil Wears Prada works so well, is it's class. It has more class than all of the 2006 movies combined. This film is just brimming with personality. It's little touches like Andy's job hanging on her getting the unpublished manuscript of Harry Potter for Miranda's kids. Or everyone at the office calling her by her dress size "6".
While I have sufficiently praised this movie, as with everything else, nothing is perfect. Even though the movie does make fun of clichéd stories throughout, the ending still ties things up a little too neatly. But at the end, you really won't care. The ride has been so fun, to nitpick and say the ending could have been a touch better, is to ruin something great.
All in all, The Devil Wears Prada is not to be missed by anyone. It's a brilliant, fun film, that transcends genre and becomes something very special. Most will probably say "This isn't for me at all." Give it a try. You shouldn't miss this incredible movie, whether you can tell Gucci from Gabbana at a glance, or can't tell Prada from Payless.