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Review #195 of 365
Film: The Devil Wears Prada [PG-13] 106 minutes
WIP™ Scale: (1st review $9.25 + 2nd review $8.25)/2= $8.75
Where Viewed: United Artists Denver Pavillions Stadium 15, Denver, CO
When 2nd Seen: 25 July 2006
Time: 11:00 p.m.
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DVD | soundtrack |
Click for 'Review Lite' [a 150-word review of this film]
Warning: plot spoilers ahead
(see review [1] only if you do not want the plot spoiled).
(see review [1] only if you do not want the plot spoiled).
No sooner had I posted my first review for The Devil Wears Prada, then I found myself in a bit of trouble with one of my most beloved critics. Turns out he thought I was way to hard on the film. So, I decided to give the film a second chance. Why not? You know it took three times before X-Men: The Last Stand finally worked for me.
So, the second time through, I decided to focus on the things that had bothered me most about the film the first time to see if I was just over-reacting to them. My biggest complaints as you can see from the first review (click here) were: the characters do not grow in a lasting way and that the film is based on one joke that keeps getting used over and over and over and over and over again. Sadly, I have to admit that both of these criticisms must still stand. As this is review number two, and I can spoil the plot, I can explain them in greater detail. The main characters: Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep), Andy Sachs (Anne begin the story and end the story on relatively the same plane as they began. In the end, we still see Miranda as cold, cruel, and heartless. She does give Andy the recommendation she needs to get the job she wants, but her letter of reference has to go down as one of the most scathing yet supporting letters of all time. We get no sign that Miranda has grown at all through her encounter with Andy. Meanwhile, Andy began the film as a mousey person interested in journalism. Ok, so she is much less mousey by the end, but she has learned what? That is you kill yourself trying to please a tyrant of a boss, you'll get the job of your dreams? Huh? Yuck. Sorry, I didn't like that. It wasn't enough for me. I wanted to see her in a meeting with Miranda who might say something like, "You know, Runway Magazine isn't just about fashion?" To which Andy might say, "Certainly not. There are a whole variety of articles on other areas of interest to people interested in fashion." To which Miranda might reply, "I need an editor who can take those sections of the magazine to the same heights as the fashion. I'm talking this needs to be the CNN of sections. Cutting edge, in your face, no holds barred, Pulitzer Prize-winning material, and I think you are the person to do this." Well, maybe my choice here is too perfect or too happy. But, it would have shown the kind of growth in both characters I was seeking. As for poor Emily, I cannot for the life of me figure out why she'd go back to work for Miranda other than that she is a glutton for punishment, and she surely learned nothing from her experience. Then there's poor Nigel who got shafted out of a major new role in an up and coming fashion company in a political game played to the hilt by Miranda Priestly. So, what happens to him? He sucks it up and says, "She'll pay me back someday." Huh? Dude, you just got bulldozed and you still have a smile on your face saying "Come on do it to me one more time"? I don't get it. And, we have no reason to assume that he's not still working for Miranda and getting no where fast in his career. Sad but true. This time around, I also decided that while I didn't want to pick on him too much in my first review, but I really thought Nate, Andy's boyfriend, was one of the most pathetic characters in the story. He's selfish, self-serving, and unsupportive. If he cannot comprehend there might be something more important happening in her life than his birthday party, then he's got a lot to learn about the grown up world. Please, he spends most of the movie either pouting or looking at her with glassy eyes.
While the film leaves it open to speculation as to whether or not Nate and Andy get back together, we are led to believe he is moving to Boston to become a chef, and she will be working in NYC as a journalist. So, we have to wonder if they are splitsville for good. Let's hope so because she can do better. Still, this notion of leaving so many loose ends and showing so little final character growth, made me like the movie even less. Sure, overall the acting and directing are quite good, but the story just doesn't leave one with good feelings. In my mind, that is not the sign of a good movie let alone a good comedy. So, sadly, I have to rate the film even a bit lower than before and not recommend a second viewing.
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Click for 'Review Lite' [a 150-word review of this film]
Click for 'Review Lite' [a 150-word review of this film]
Meryl Streep
• Anne Hathaway • Stanley TucciSimon Baker
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The Devil Wears Prada Review-lite [150-word cap]
Based on Lauren Weisberger's novel and bearing a title that SNL's Coffee Talk host, Linda Richman, could have used as a topic for people to discuss when she's all verklempt because the film is about neither Satan nor specifically Prada, The Devil Wears Prada is a mostly average summer comedy. With Meryl Streep ruthlessly playing 'the devil', Miranda Priestly, editor-in-chief of the most prominent fashion magazine on the planet, and Anne Hathaway playing Andie, her mousey, fashion senseless, journalism major, understudy, one would expect great acting. Unfortunately, the film delivers no great insight except that Miranda is outwardly a shade darker than inside and Andie can accomplish her goals without selling her soul to the devil. The film has but one source of comedy, and it seemed to go out of fashion quite early leaving only remnants of jokes to be sold off at Filene's Basement three for $5.
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