This movie's about hard work.

Rating: 8/10 (15 October 2006)

This movie is really about a young and inexperienced person doing a very tough job. It's about hard work. It's about finding fulfillment in working up to the demands of an extraordinary task-master, who works just as hard, if not harder, as everyone else who works for her. The boss lady, Miranda, sacrifices just about every relationship in her own life to run her fashion magazine her way, which is to make it the very best it can possibly be. This is her choice and she expects it to be the choice of anyone who works for her. It someone wants to work at a lesser level, then go work for someone else. It's New York. The young assistant, Andrea, finds herself in a job that's both beneath her career expectations and yet, way over her head. Early on she is not competent at her job, but she gets there. She begins to understand her job and understand her own capacities. She grows enormously under some very tough teachers. Her friends, on the other hand, and this is particularly true of her pretty boyfriend, don't like this change in her. Actually, they can't keep up. They are terribly judgmental and offer her very little understanding. Her girl-friend loves the fine and expensive accessories that come to her through Andrea's job, but is quick to condemn the changes she thinks she sees in Andrea and viciously attacks her verbally. These friends, who are very quick to condemn their friend because she is committed to doing a good job, remain ambitious for themselves. If they worked for a task-master such as Andrea's boss, would their own work reach a higher level? Or, would they sacrifice their own careers just to remain the same chummy pals they've been? As I said, this movie is about hard work and the fulfillment one can receive from working at the top of one's form. Hurray for Miranda, and for the growth we see in Andrea.