A toast to Meryl
I went to see The Devil Wears Prada last night with some girlfriends. I'd heard it veritably panned by some critics, and I've never read the book it was based on. However, I went to see it because Meryl Streep is in it and, basically, I trust her.
While the movie is many things that critics have called it (predictable, pat, etc.), it is still worth watching because of Streep's elegant performance. Quick set up: Andy (played by Anne Hathaway), a smart journalism grad trying to make her way in the big city, is jobless and luckless. In desperation, she goes on an interview to Runway magazine, a fashion publication she's barely heard of. Editor-in-Chief Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep), a dragonlady workaholic with a penchant for steaks and Starbucks, hires the unlikely girl as her second assistant. The movie then follows Andy and Miranda as their professional relationship continues.
Director David Frankel had better be glad that Miranda is such a primary character in this script, because Streep elevated the material (as she always does). Many other actresses might have played Miranda as a screamer, driven by anger and a perverse pleasure in others' misery. However, Streep makes her real. She is ambitious; she works like a dog; she is exacting; and she expects no less from those who work for her. Because, time and again, the viewer sees how hard Miranda works, it's difficult to write her off as a hate-able character. After all, she doesn't ask her employees to work any harder than she's working herself. As well, I loved the calm, the feeling of business-as-usual that Streep exuded as Miranda. She never raised her voice. She rarely seemed to get emotionally involved in her business decisions. She just did her job. It's a very interesting protrait of a woman at the top in her chosen profession. I can see why Streep made many of the choices she made, and I think she was wonderful in the role.
To boot, there are other, less noble reasons to go see The Devil Wears Prada. First, the clothes and how each character wears them make for fascinating study. Secondly, I heard some of the best movies lines that I'd heard in a while at this screening. ("I'm one stomach flu away from my goal weight," mentions one character. "She's a sadist . . . and not in the good way," opines another. And, I think, my favorite - "Something told me, hire the smart . . . fat girl.") I think it's best viewed with a group of girl friends, after imbibing something fruity and pink.
While the movie is many things that critics have called it (predictable, pat, etc.), it is still worth watching because of Streep's elegant performance. Quick set up: Andy (played by Anne Hathaway), a smart journalism grad trying to make her way in the big city, is jobless and luckless. In desperation, she goes on an interview to Runway magazine, a fashion publication she's barely heard of. Editor-in-Chief Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep), a dragonlady workaholic with a penchant for steaks and Starbucks, hires the unlikely girl as her second assistant. The movie then follows Andy and Miranda as their professional relationship continues.
Director David Frankel had better be glad that Miranda is such a primary character in this script, because Streep elevated the material (as she always does). Many other actresses might have played Miranda as a screamer, driven by anger and a perverse pleasure in others' misery. However, Streep makes her real. She is ambitious; she works like a dog; she is exacting; and she expects no less from those who work for her. Because, time and again, the viewer sees how hard Miranda works, it's difficult to write her off as a hate-able character. After all, she doesn't ask her employees to work any harder than she's working herself. As well, I loved the calm, the feeling of business-as-usual that Streep exuded as Miranda. She never raised her voice. She rarely seemed to get emotionally involved in her business decisions. She just did her job. It's a very interesting protrait of a woman at the top in her chosen profession. I can see why Streep made many of the choices she made, and I think she was wonderful in the role.
To boot, there are other, less noble reasons to go see The Devil Wears Prada. First, the clothes and how each character wears them make for fascinating study. Secondly, I heard some of the best movies lines that I'd heard in a while at this screening. ("I'm one stomach flu away from my goal weight," mentions one character. "She's a sadist . . . and not in the good way," opines another. And, I think, my favorite - "Something told me, hire the smart . . . fat girl.") I think it's best viewed with a group of girl friends, after imbibing something fruity and pink.
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