January 1 2007: Review: The Devil Wears Prada
Filed under Reviews
Once again, I’m a failure. Once again, I’ve failed to read the original novel before watching the movie. So sue me.
I’d actually looked forward to this movie for quite some time, as I’ve always had a bit of a girl crush on Anna Wintour, the famed editor of American Vogue, who the book is apparently based on. Icy, reserved, clipped British tones, the famed trademark bob haircut and sunglasses, sitting in the front row of all important fashion shows…how could one not be intrigued by such a character?
Meryl Streep as Miranda Priestly, editor of Runway magazine, gives a commando performance as the screen personification of the queen of fashion. Somehow, with a simple softly spoken and dismissive, “That’s all”, and a pointed look, she manages to convey a personality that is both viciously manipulative and judgemental, yet with a hint of humanity underneath.
Anne Hathaway on the other hand, possesses the uncanny ability to make me gag, no matter which role it is that she’s taking. It’s truly bizarre, yet oh-so-true. Her characterisation of Andrea (Andy) Sachs, the sweet girl-next-door with no fashion sense who becomes sucked into the shallow stick-skinny fashion world, is nothing other than cliched. It is a predictable storyling; we already know that Andy will start off badly dressed, then metamorph into Andrea, the well-dressed fashionista who cheats on her boyfriend, then come to her senses and revert to being the same old sweet Andy with integrity and morality because MY GAWD no one in the fashion industry is AT ALL sincere.
The basic point is, we know what’s going to happen in the movie. The lead actress should be able to suspend our belief, to frame her characterisation in such a way so that the ending doesn’t seem like a foregone conclusion. Anne Hathaway fails miserably at this, as I truly don’t believe that she has the range that is needed for such a dramatic character reversal. For that reason, I firmly maintain that my teen actress of choice, Lindsay Lohan, would have been a more appropriate choice for this role. She’s proven that she can play duplicitous characters, like Cady in Mean Girls and even two different characters at the same time (The Parent Trap), which would have made her the perfect candidate for Andrea Sachs.
Fashion-wise…may I ask what the fashion department were thinking when they decided that an orange tutu paired with a turquoise belt and a red patterned jacket was perfect and fashion-fabulous? I literally almost choked on my unsalted caramelised popcorn in the cinema when I watched that particular scene…I might not be the best dressed pony in the competition, but even I know a hideous outfit when I see one. So much for Runway being the movie equivalent of Vogue…Wintour would never let such an outfit appear in Vogue.
I did enjoy the way that the producers of the movie managed to get actual supermodels and figures in the fashion industry into the movie, lending it a certain realicy. It was startling to see Gisele Bundchen as one of the women who works as Runway, and Heidi Klum playing herself at a fashion show. Gisele Bundchen! Heidi Klum! The model fangirl in me went nuts and spilled Coke all over herself in the cinema!
While the direction and filmography wasn’t particular out of the ordinary or spectacular in any way, I must admit I was impressed with the editing. There was one particular scene where we saw Andrea (fashionista Andrea, not dowdy Andy) walk through New York, coming up from the subway, catching a taxi, and generally going about everyday business. The beautiful thing with the editing in this scene, was the fact that every time something passed Andy and the camera lost sight of her, she would seemingly miraculously change outfits, so we saw her gradual transformation into a true assistant to the queen of the fashion world. The editing in that scene was really very very well done.
Overall, it was an enjoyable movie, it truly was. Meryl Streep was a delight as always, and the setting and secondary characters were all perfect. It’s just a shame that Anne Hathaway let the whole movie down.
P.S. Who on earth would choose Adrien Grenier over Simon Baker? Seriously, who in their right mind would do that? Simon Baker is so much nicer to look at!
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