‘Is there some reason that my coffee isn’t here? Has she died or something?’
Anyone that has seen me ambling around my hometown in an old pair of jeans and a band t-shirt will know that I know absolutely nothing about fashion. I despise clothes shopping and do everything I can to avoid it. If that means sticking with the same faded, ill-fitting clothes that have made up my wardrobe for years then so be it. And yet, I’ve always fancied The Devil Wears Prada. Great cast. Interesting premise. Let’s jump in…
Andy Sachs (Anne Hathaway) is an aspiring journalist in NYC who has to settle for a job as an assistant at the fictional fashion magazine Runway. Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep) is the dragon-like editor of the magazine who makes Andy’s life hell. Making up the cast are weight-obsessed first assistant Emily (Emily Blunt), fashion expert Nigel (Stanley Tucci) and Andy’s long-suffering chef boyfriend Nate (Adrian Grenier).
Where to start? Well, I was concerned when Anne Hathaway was described as being neither skinny nor glamourous within the first five minutes, and Emily Blunt’s character constantly making jokes about not eating has not aged well, but this is a film that is supposed to present the fashion world as toxic (I think?), so it has just about earned a pass on that one. It helps that Streep delivers one of her most iconic performances, earning her one of many Oscar nominations, but Hathaway is just as good, still managing to keep the audience onside despite her inevitable slide into being an utterly terrible person. Tucci and Blunt have a lot of fun and provide the film’s funniest moments, but it is the two leads that have ensured that The Devil Wears Prada has become something of a cult classic and a box office success at the same time.
It’s clear that I am not the target audience for this film, and yet it speaks to the quality of the performances and the stellar work of director David Frankel (working from Aline Brosh McKenna’s adaptation of Lauren Weisberger’s novel) that in the end, I enjoyed it. I won’t be updating my wardrobe anytime soon mind.