Wednesday 25 July 2012

The Devil Wears Prada


I was pretty much conned into this after praising Anne Hathaway's performance as Selina Kyle in The Dark Knight Rises to someone. "Oh it's not a chick flick like it sounds". Lies. The chickiest flick I've seen in a long time. It's essentially Ugly Betty: The Movie, but without any attempt to make the Betty ugly, because it's god damn Anne Hathaway.

That said, I'm not one to judge a film for something it isn't. I'm not exactly well versed in films like this, but I don't think it's that bad for what it is. Sure the plot points are signposted before they're even in sight, none of what the supporting cast does really makes any sense and the soundtrack's as clichéd as not wearing white after Labor Day, but there is some redemption.  Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway work well together. Streep gives a subtle and slick performance as the titular devil: editor-in-chief of the prestigious Runway magazine, Miranda Preistly. Hathaway plays the target of most of the Devil's contempt as Andrea Sachs,an unfashionable aspiring journalist using a job as the editor's assistant as a stepping stone to "legitimate" journalism.

There isn't much below the surface of The Devil Wears Prada, but it doesn't really matter. One remarkable performance and another very admirable one carry the film, but they're held up by some great costuming (as you'd expect from a fashion film) and visual design. Overall, it's clearly not a film targeted at me, but it's pretty enjoyable none-the-less and I'm sure it's a hit with people who can really appreciate it.

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