Hasn't aged well

Rating: 5/10 (25 November 2019)

I first watched this film nine years before the date of this review. It was an engaging sketch of both a city and a field (high fashion) I generally had little to no knowledge of. Needless to say, I was mighty thrilled by the story of this "normal" New Yorker finding her place and working her way up the rank as the assistant to the indomitable queen of Haute Couture, Miranda.
Subsequent rewatches haven't struck the same chord. The character arcs do not seem convincing, especially that of Andy, played by Anne Hathaway. Who is Andy anyway? There's little we know about her. What makes her so resilient to all the taunts and insults thrown her way? What prompts her sudden switch from mocking fashion to embracing it? How many free goodies is she entitled to anyway as a secretary? Her final seemingly righteous decision to quit seems to have little foundation backing it up. Similarly, why is Miranda such a boss-zilla?
There were also a bunch of wrong or mixed messages thrown in without resolution. Like, is it really wrong for a woman to prioritise her career to a point of obsession that she will always be penalised for it? There were many scenes where Andy's bf was acting like a grown-up attention-demanding baby and yet, they showed the lady in bad light. I guess it is too much to ask a comedy drama to take itself too seriously, but I wish it had.
All said, this was my "Frozen" back in the late 2000s. And I shall remember it fondly for that.