The Devil Wears Prada

Synopsis:

Andrea (Anne Hathaway) is a college graduate who is trying to get a job as a writer. Since she didn’t have enough experience, she applied for a job at a fashion magazine called Runway. She had no idea what she was in for when she applied for the job. She ends up working for Miranda (Meryl Streep). She is a mean boss to her. Andrea can’t seem to get the job right. She constantly messes things up until she finally adapts to the job. She eventually earns her respect once she changes the way she dresses. Miranda demands a lot of her time and it starts to affect her relationships with her boyfriend and her friends.

Here are some thoughts about the movie:

When I watched this movie, I got the impression that it was like Working Girl. I noticed the similarities between the two movies because both characters become consumed with their careers and it affects their relationships. Both females have to change their appearances to be taken seriously. Andrea was constantly told that she didn’t know how to dress for someone who works at a fashion magazine.

Meryl Streep is the star of this movie, but she is barely in it. It’s a safe bet that she is the devil that the title is referring to, but she’s not in it enough. Andrea is the unofficial star of the movie so why wasn’t she given top billing? Did the writers think that we would take the movie more seriously if a legend were the star? It’s obvious from the trailers that the writers want you to think Meryl’s part is bigger than it really is. Anne Hathaway is barely in the trailers and the movie is about her character.

I didn’t understand why the writers kept driving it home that Andrea was fat. She wore a size six, but they made it seem as if she were heavy. She is slimmer than Miranda, but she is one of the main ones calling her fat. What type of message are the writers trying send? You have to be below a size six to be considered thin? Emily, Miranda’s number 1 assistant, starved herself so she could go to Paris with Miranda. Did she really have to starve herself just to go to Paris?

I noticed how Emily (Miranda’s Number One executive assistant), wasn’t very friendly to Andrea at first. The reason is never explained to the audience. She was also harping on her weight and clothes. She even took the time to discuss her with other coworkers. Whenever Andrea tried to reach out to her. She brushed her off. This makes it hard to feel sorry for Emily later on in the movie. I won’t spoil it for you, but she does suffer at some point in the movie.

Everyone who worked at Runway kept reminding Andrea how a million girls would kill for her job. I can’t even count up how many times someone told Andrea how lucky she was to work at Runway. Considering how mean and demanding Miranda was, I doubt that many people would kill for the job. Miranda didn’t even get her employees names right. She wouldn’t even try to get them right. She made Andrea do impossible things and then she got mad at her when she couldn’t do it. For example, she expected Andrea to be able to stall a plane so that she could get home to see her daughters’ performances. How was she supposed to do that? Miranda insulted Andrea when she couldn’t get her on an earlier flight. It was uncalled for, but she didn’t care at all. Once Andrea saw her with her husband, Miranda expected her to get the new Harry Potter script. This is the point where Christian enters the movie. I’ll talk about him more later. I was not surprised that Andrea considered quitting because of how mean Miranda was.

Andrea wanted to be a writer, but she never did any writing. The only way to remember that she wanted to be a writer was when she mentioned it a couple of times.

Why were Nigel (Stanley Tucci), Simon Baker (Christian), Adrian Grenier (Nate), and her friends even in the movie? They are all underdeveloped and pretty much wasted in the movie. Nate in particular is really underdeveloped. He practically disappears in this movie. His role is practically a cameo considering he plays an important role in her life. Her friends are liked that too. I’ve read reviews that mention how their parts are bigger in the book that the movie is based on. Since I didn’t read the book, I’m not sure how big Christian’s part is supposed to be. It appears to be a triangle between Andrea, Nate, and Christian, but that part of the story seemed underdeveloped. The triangle seemed so insignificant that it might as well not have been one at all. Spoiler warning: Since Andrea ends up having a one night stand with him, you would think that his part would be bigger.

The writers make it seem as if you can’t have a career and a personal life if you are a woman. Andrea and Miranda’s personal lives suffer as a result of their careers. Nate doesn’t seem too supportive of her career. In fact, he practically pushes her to quit working for Miranda when she’s constantly complaining about the job. When she doesn’t want to quit, he seemed upset. To make matters worse, she ends up missing something important to Nate and it causes more problems for them. Miranda is constantly working which causes problems for her and her husband. Do the writers want us to think that it’s not possible for a woman to have a career and a personal life?

When Andrea predictably adapts to her job, the movie starts to become like The Princess Diaries. She is klutzy like Mia was and she has a transformation too. In the Princess Diaries, Mia ignores her friends when she adapts to being a princess. Andrea does the same thing with her job. Andrea is even picked on the same way Mia was because she didn’t dress like everyone else. Stanley Tucci even has the Hector Elizonda role. Nigel was like Andrea’s fairy godfather just as Hector Elizonda was to Mia. It’s as if the movie is The Princess Diaries goes to work for a magazine. The roles are very similar.

Despite all of my comments, there were things that I liked about the movie. I liked how Andrea wasn’t completely butchered in the movie. She stayed a rootable character in the movie. She may not have done the right thing all of the time, but who does?

Andrea also wasn’t down on herself about her weight. People kept telling her that she was overweight, but she didn’t starve herself like another character did in the movie.

I think Anne Hathaway did a good job in her role. Despite the pratfalls, she played the part well. Meryl did an excellent job playing Miranda. I think she stole the movie which really wasn’t that hard to do. You will see that she truly earns the name devil.

Final thoughts:

Overall, the movie is worth watching, but there are too many bad messages to make it perfect. I really would have liked to have seen Andrea writing more in this movie. I also would have liked to have seen more of Meryl’s character. It would have been good to see why she acted the way she did. Finally I would have liked to see the other supporting characters more, but beggars can’t be choosers. Check the movie out and see what you think.