The Devil Wears Prada

Just to get some relief from the summer blockbusters, I checked out some counter-programming with "The Devil Wears Prada" featuring Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway in a story melding the classic fish-out-of-water with a basically good person being tempted by the good life, in this case, a career in high fashion at the cost of stepping over some bodies to get ahead of the rat race.

Meryl Streep's Miranda Priestly is a no-nonsense editor-in-chief of Runway magazine, a leading high fashion magazine, and while she is tough on her subordinates with strict standards and demanding expectations, Streep still allows just a bit of humanity to seep through her handling of Andrea (Anne Hathaway) and the choices that present themselves as Andrea progresses through her assignments, and the positioning of favored status in Miranda's eyes, at the cost of personal integrity. Andrea comes across as idealistic, and naive at the beginning of her career after college (through a stroke of luck and timing, finds her way into the 2nd assistant position for Miranda), but finds herself more and more entrenched in a world that she initially dismisses, and makes her question her own morals and decision-making process.

The film is a bit too easy on Andrea at times, as her ambition rarely truly fuels her ascent at Runway, but she's smart, seems amenable to playing the game after pushing that "don't care" boulder uphill one too many days and getting reprimanded as well. You can't help but root for Andrea, hoping she'll sidestep the landmines in her way, and remain true to herself, but the film's conclusion is not as satisfying as I had hoped, a little predictable, but still watchable for the performances of not only the leads, but the supporting cast as well.

I give it 2.75 stars, or a grade of B-.