Flat as the pages of a fashion magazine

Rating: 3/10 (30 June 2006)

If you like watching a beautiful woman wearing beautiful clothes, see this movie. If you like acting, see another Meryl Streep or Stanley Tucci film, preferably one that is well enough written to let the actors do their jobs. The attempt to develop a "Friends"-like energy among Andy's young friends stalled totally, and their characters never passed the first-draft/first-reading level of development--a tragic waste of the talents of an actress like Tracie Thoms. The secondary love interest (Simon Baker) didn't make us feel she should be attracted to him, while the boyfriend (Adrian Grenier) made us wonder why she took up with him in the first place. Meanwhile, we only get a vague impression of the tension between Andy's growing respect and even sympathy for her boss and her horror at the costs of following Miranda's footsteps. Streep and Tucci deliver in spades, of course, but the only bright light among the younger actors was Emily Blunt, who plays her role as the suffering-servant senior assistant with a nice comic touch.