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In the world of high fashion, this is akin to showing up at a comic convention and not knowing who Stan Lee is. Miranda is the high-priestess of fashion; she doesn’t follow the trends, she sets them. When Miranda says jump, her staff asks how high and in what pair of designer stilettos. So when Miranda meets Andy, who openly challenges the unchallengeable Miranda, telling her that while she may not know everything about fashion, she’s smart and will work hard, Miranda decides to take a chance on the “smart, fat girl” (Andy, for the record, is all of a size 6, but in the world of "Runway" she’s practically obese).

Andy takes on the challenge of working as Miranda’s second assistant under Emily (Emily Blunt), the first assistant, who loves fashion body and soul, and works herself nearly to death to please Miranda, who shows no signs of ever being pleased by anyone or anything. Before you can say Valentino who has a delish guest appearance as himself), Andy has transformed herself into one of the “clackers” – the name given to the "Runway" employees whose stiletto heels clickety-clack across the marble lobby as they run to-and-fro doing Miranda’s endless bidding. Andy is a determined young girl, and as many idealistic young people just out of college, she throws herself body and soul into her first “real world” opportunity, nearly losing site of herself in the process.

The Devil Wears Prada is a relentlessly funny – and relentlessly sad – film. Streep humanizes Miranda, who is seen by her staff as the devil incarnate, showing us touches of the real woman beneath the designer clothes, and somehow imbuing an undercurrent of sadness and desperate loneliness beneath Miranda’s tough exterior. Miranda is a woman who wields a great deal of power, and knows it, but she also knows exactly what price she has paid to be at the top of the fashion game. Children, husbands, friends and personal life have all been sacrificed at the altar of fashion – but as Andy notes to her friends, if Miranda were a man, no one would even question that; they’d just admire how successful she was at her job.

Therein lies the truth buried deeply in the heart of Prada that I would have liked to have seen explored even more: the world of fashion and the world of professional careers exact a higher price from women than from men. The men (for the most part) design the impossibly high stiletto heels and haute couture that only looks good on you if you’re a size 4, and women starve themselves to be able to wear it. Men can work 80-hour-work weeks and travel around the globe for their jobs, but if a woman does the same, she’s neglecting her husband and family. A man can be a hard-nosed, demanding ass of a boss, so long as he’s great at what he does, and people will not only put up with it, but respect him for it. A woman like Miranda, on the other hand, is considered a “devil” for doing the same thing.

Feminist bitching and moaning aside, though, Prada is a wickedly fun movie. Streep couldn’t be more perfect as Miranda. According to the production notes, she was given a huge three-ring binder filled with information on the fashion biz, and not only absorbed that, but asked for more.

Anne Hathaway was a nice surprise. I actually enjoyed Hathaway in the Princess Diaries films (which, thanks to my pre-teen daughter, I’ve seen more times than I can count), but I wasn’t sure how I’d like her in a non-Disney flick. Thankfully, her role in Prada isn’t really a huge leap from The Princess Diaries; she’s once again the awkward, ugly duckling, morphed into a pretty princess with the help of a male helper (in this case, the delectable Stanley Tucci, who lends warmth and heart to what could have been a one-dimensional character). Andy loses her way on the surface, but at heart remains true to who she is, which is pretty much the character arc we’ve seen from Hathaway before, but her natural warmth and sincerity play nicely off of Streep’s icy aloofness.

Blunt, who previously won audiences’ hearts for her role in My Summer of Love, doesn’t disappoint in this turn. Blunt’s Emily is ruthless and passionate, jealous and conniving, as she should be, but underneath it all she reluctantly likes Andy. Adrian Grenier (Entourage) takes a supporting role this time around as Andy’s laid-back wannabe chef boyfriend Nate, who keeps her grounded.

This character, and in fact Andy’s relationship with him, was the one thing that kind of bugged me about the film. Nate works in the restaurant biz, which is notoriously just about as hardcore and demanding as the fashion industry, especially in New York. The hours are long and the work is hard. If anyone should appreciate the hours Andy has to work and her growing dedication to her job, you’d think it would be Nate, but perhaps he doesn’t aspire to the dedication required to be a world-class chef.

Overall, a clever script and some impressive performances make for a delicious haute couture ride. The Devil Wears Prada is fashionably fun summer fare. Guys might not enjoy the film as much as their girlfriends, but go along anyhow -- it'll give you ammo when you want her to go with you to see Superman Returns.

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originally posted: 06/28/06 04:22:38
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