nine out of ten
Now I told you many a month ago that devils do indeed come in all shapes, colors, and sizes, and that many a one does indeed sport Prada. At long last a movie to prove my point! Please note the Prada littered throughout.
Follow Andi, a sweet midwestern girl who is a very "fat" size six as she tries to make it as a writer in New York City. She winds up working for Miranda Priestly as a junior assistant in a job that a million girls would kill for (she is reminded this at every turn). Essentially this magazine is like Vogue and a year stint here guaruntees all the doors you want will be open upon year's end. The movie follows Andi as she struggles to please this boss and in the process we watch as she gains and loses many things.
I loved this movie because Meryl Streep knows how to act. This is her movie and she shines like the star she is. Actors can make or break a movie and it is thanks to her this movie was excellent. She is funny, she is mean, she can just make a look and freeze you in your tracks. She truly is a boss from hell but she is more than that thanks to Meryl Streep. Huda read the book and said that in the book the mean boss is a very one sided character. In this movie there is depth and layers to the mean boss and into the choices that Andi makes in the city. I like that because no one is just one or the other. Most of us are very complex. What I particularly liked was a line in the movie where someone said the obvious: If Miranda was a man she'd be seen as someone who gets things done. Because she's a woman she's seen as the dragon woman. If you watch the movie you sort of get that.
My only critique of the movie is that in some ways it glamorizes the fashion industry because its message is very subtle. Apparently from reviews, the books is a little more "let me bang the point over your head that this is a shallow industry" while the movie is not as obvious. Perhaps a young girl watching may miss the entire point? I hope not.
