A Brilliant Caricature Of The World Of High Fashion

Rating: 8/10 (10 October 2008)

This is not an outrageously funny movie, however it does offer a devastatingly effective caricature (or is it a caricature?) of the world of high fashion, mostly seen through the eyes and experiences of Andy (Anne Hathaway), a young woman who takes a job as second assistant to Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep), the cold as ice, hard as nails editor in chief of "Runway Magazine" - apparently the world's top fashion magazine. Andy is totally out of her comfort zone. She's not a fashion junkie and she really only took the job to get some experience in journalism. Priestly, however, takes this business very, very seriously - almost a life or death matter, and she demands the same of her staff, whose lives she turns into hell. The caricature of the fashion world is brilliant - a world where loyalty is unknown and friendship is fleeting and artificial at best; a world where (in reference to women's dress sizes) "0 is the new 2, 2 is the new 4 and 6 is the new 14;" a world in which Andy (who is very beautiful) is dismissed as "fat" because she's a size 6. A world in which Emily (Emily Blunt) - Miranda's "first assistant" - is on a diet that allows her to eat "a cube of cheese" if she feels like she's about to faint.
Streep was absolutely brilliant in this role, playing Miranda as totally out of control (and totally, icily in control) - a sort of Martha Stewart type of character (even the look and the voice were eerily reminiscent of Martha.) Blunt was almost her equal as her assistant (also icy cold and totally consumed by this dog eat dog world.) I thought they both outshone Hathaway, who was nevertheless quite good, portraying Andy as reluctantly stepping into this world, and then fighting not to become so caught up in it that it ruins her life. In a somewhat understated role, Stanley Tucci was also very effective as Nigel, the closest thing Miranda has to a friend on the staff.
It's not the sort of comedy that will have you rolling on the floor. It's more amusing (primarily because the portrayal of the fashion world seems so accurate) and it's fun to watch. 8/10