Chick Flick Hell

Rating: 3/10 (17 July 2007)

As a guy, I avoided this movie because it had "Chick Flick" written all over it. Don't get me wrong, one of my favorite films is "Thelma and Louise", it's just that I could sniff this one out, and knew it would be a real drag to sit through. Anyway, it came on cable recently, I taped it, and watched the whole thing in about 6 sit downs. That was the only way to digest the platter of vomit that was "The Devil Wears Prada". Streep sleepwalked through her performance; there was very little about her character that moved me at all. Hathaway's character was not particularly likable, even though we are supposed to adore her and empathize with her heart wrenching decisions, one of which is cheating on her boyfriend with a sleaze bag fashion industry type. In fact, all of the characters are unlikable, even the aw-shucks boyfriend. This is a movie whose message tries to be "The triumph of personal integrity over superficiality and ethically challenged ambition". The attempt at conveying this message falls way short, because the movie spends too much time celebrating the superficiality it pretends to condemn. I was at least hoping for a Darth Vaderesque boss in Meryl Streep, but even that aspect of the movie was well off the mark. She was positively not intimidating. If you want to see a boss from hell movie, watch "Swimming with Sharks" with Kevin Spacey. That'll help you get over the headache-inducing waste of time that was "The Devil Wears Prada".