The Devil Wears Prada

By Keith Boykin, in movies
Monday, July 3 2006, 12:05AM

With the success of The Devil Wears Prada at the box office this weekend, the producers have one person to thank: Meryl Streep. Whatever else this movie is, it is a film that showcases the enormous talent of Streep, the most Oscar-nominated actress in the business. From the moment she first appears on the screen until her last not so tearful goodbye in her Mercedes Benz, Streep captivates the audience with her steely demeanor and her bitchy perfectionism. This movie is all about Meryl Streep.

Streep plays Miranda Priestly, a facsimile of legendary Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour. Think "Sex And the City" meets Dolores Claiborne. Sometimes being a bitch is the only thing a woman has to hold onto. But if Priestly were a man, would we think differently of her? The film raises that issue, fortunately without actually answering the question.

From chick lit to chick flick, The Devil Wears Prada may be the most entertaining summer movie outside of the action genre. It doesn't matter if you haven't read Lauren Weisberger's bestselling book, don't know anything about fashion, or never heard of Anna Wintour. Andy Sachs (Anne Hathaway) is a young woman who learns about herself as she gets to know her famous and powerful boss (Streep). That's the very universal premise of the movie.

Although the film has a few sentimental elements in it, I was briefly afraid the movie would evolve into a sappy, predictable romantic comedy with the introduction of Anne Hathaway's love interest Nate, played by Adrian Grenier. Instead, the film momentarily toys with the genre without ever fully indulging in it.

Stanley Tucci brings a gay sensibility to his role as Nigel, Priestly's able but overlooked art director. Grenier and Tracie Thoms play the roles of Hathaway's betrayed boyfriend and best friend, respectively. Simon Baker doesn't quite connect as Christian Thompson, the somewhat sleazy writer trying to get in Hathaway's pants. But I was pleasantly surprised to see Daniel Sunjata as the fashion designer James Holt and George C. Wolfe as an editor at Runway magazine.

The film features appearances by familiar fashion names like Gisele Bundchen, Heidi Klum, Robert Verdi and Valentino Garavani. As a New Yorker, I also appreciated the New York sensibility infused into the settings. Unlike so many Hollywood flicks that film New York scenes in Canada, this movie is actually filmed in New York City and feels very New York.

The Devil Wears Prada is a fun way to spend two hours of the summer. You owe it to yourself to see this movie, if only to see and hear the lines that everyone will be quoting for the next few months. As Miranda Priestly would say, "That's all."

Comments (7) reveal