Simon Baker plays Matthew Broderick

Rating: 8/10 (2 October 2006)

I've never seen Simon Baker play the same accent twice, but this time was downright weird. He seemed to be channeling Matthew Broderick, and if you close your eyes, the impersonation is uncanny. But to what purpose? To make his character seem wimpy and harmless? Why not play those qualities as a character trait instead of a send-up? An inside joke may be afoot.
The director of "The Devil Wear Prada" is a vet of Sex and the City, and directed a first feature starring Sarah Jessica Parker, "Miami Rhapsody." Mrs. Broderick may have suggested the directorial tactic, or maybe it was a fond tribute in its own right. But for the audience, it was distracting. And it robbed us from what Mr. Baker might've done.
No matter. What we came to see was Meryl Streep deliver one of her richest roles in years. Funny, dangerous, cruel, sad. But not a drop of bathos or phony sympathy for this devil. Streep has the courage to give us someone we love to hate. And in a surprising twist, someone the audience is seduced into admiring.
And isn't seduction the devil's first job?