(A woman who knows exactly what she wants - and isn’t afraid to demand it. I’m sorry, but what is the problem here?)
CAST: Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Stanley Tucci, Adrien Grenier, Simon Baker, Emily Blunt, James Naughton.
DIRECTOR: David Frankel
WARNING: Some SPOILERS and alleged “Boss From Hell” antics straight ahead…
I’m fortunate enough to have been blessed with good bosses throughout my so-called career. While I’ve heard of stories from other folks of working for or having worked for bosses that were just one step away from being the Anti-Christ, I thank my stars that my superiors have all been decent. Sure, none of them were perfect - far from it. We are all human, after all. Overall, though, they were pretty cool. Which is definitely not the case of the fictional (or is she? ) boss in the novel “The Devil Wears Prada” by Lauren Weisberger.
The novel is about a hellish year in the nightmarish life of a personal assistant to a high-powered and demanding fashion magazine editor. The assistant is Andie Sachs, and the domineering editor is Miranda Priestley. As portrayed in the book, Miranda is not one step shy of being the Anti-Christ. She is the Anti-Christ. Well, actually, I guess she is the Devil since the title of this book is… well, you get the idea.
Now, here’s the interesting part: Weisberger was a personal assistant for a year to Anna Wintour, the Editor-in-Chief of Vogue. Wintour has a reputation for being somewhat… well, difficult. Shall we say. Whether or not the novel is based on Weisberger’s experiences working for Wintour at Vogue, I will leave up to you. Suffice it to say, the character of Miranda Priestley in the book is more than just difficult. She’s kind of a screeching banshee, actually. So much so that you wonder how any actress could play her in the film version without coming across as a cartoon.
Fortunately, the actress chosen for the role was Meryl Streep, who doesn’t traffic in stereotypes or caricatures. Whether or not the writers altered the character of Miranda expressly for Streep, or they actually were planning to do this from the get-go, is hard to ascertain. The bottom line is that Miranda in the movie, while still definitely formidable, is also a lot more nuanced and restrained. Instead of being a raging Dragon Lady, she’s an ultra-efficient Ice Queen.
But before we get to Miranda, there’s Andie Sachs to deal with. In the book, Andie was such an aggressive, ungrateful, and unlikable whiner that you almost found yourself siding with her boss. As with Miranda, the film version changes Andie a bit, as well. In the movie she is more diligent, responsible, and, after some initial griping, is quite stoic. Anne Hathaway’s casting also helps mellow the character, since Hathaway isn’t exactly known for playing bitches.
The film version follows the same path as the novel, as Andie tries to survive a year under Miranda’s reign. Not only does she have to deal with her chilly and demanding boss, but she must also contend with a Miranda-wannabe in the form of Emily (Emily Blunt). Immaculately dressed in the latest in haute couteur and rail-thin, Emily regards Andie as something that crawled out of the local Old Navy store with it’s entire sales inventory stapled to her body. Add to this fact that Andie has a general disregard for fashion and fashion mags, and it’s not hard to conclude that she’s basically like a lone seal in the Great White-infested waters of the Farallon Islands.
Will Andie survive her trial by fire in Miranda’s office? Or will her boss eat her alive? Will Emily ever lay off and start to respect Andie? Will Andie start to develop an affinity for fashion and start dressing to kill? And what happens when Andie starts beginning to see beyond Miranda’s icy exterior and respecting the hard work ethic she sees underneath? Will her job start to affect her relationship with her boyfriend Nate (Adrian Grenier) and their friends? Or will Andie realize they’re all assholes and drop them like a bunch of hot rocks for a more fashion-forward crowd? What happens when Andie meets a glamorous journalist named Christian (Simon Baker)? And will Andie become Miranda, Jr.? Will Emily kill her for it?
That all remains to be seen. Personally, I don’t see what’s so bad about Miranda. It’s not like she drinks her employees’ blood or anything like that. Actually, even that wouldn’t be so bad, because then they’d become vampires, and look forever young.
BUT, SERIOUSLY: As I wrote in the intro, the best thing that the writers adapting the novel could’ve done was revamp the characters of Miranda Priestley and Andie Sachs. It’s not just that both were highly unlikable in the book, but also that Miranda was actually less unlikable than Andie. Andie whined so much and took her coveted position so much for granted that you couldn’t help but wonder if it was her crappy attitude that was always setting Miranda off. Sure, the lady was kind of a monster. Then again, so was her assistant.
In the film version, Miranda is a more complex character with a streak of humanity running through to her. Never once does she sink to the screaming sessions that her novelistic counterpart devolved to. Instead, the brilliant Meryl Streep turns her into a determined and hard-charging woman who often has to make hard choices that affect those around her in order for the magazine to stay at the top. She doesn’t do anything that a male CEO or executive doesn't do several times a day. Yet no one is calling them names like “bitches” or a “monsters.” In my mind, there really isn’t much wrong with Miranda as portrayed in the film. She’s not the Queen of Warm Fuzzies - and that is just fine. Kudos to Meryl Streep for turning what could’ve been a shrill cartoon into a compelling and human figure.
As Andie, Anne Hathaway is just the right amount of feisty, humble, and smart. After her initial dive into the proverbial deep end and the accompanying complaining, Andie meets up with the droll and wise Nigel (Stanley Tucci) who basically tells her like it is - she’s whining uselessly and, as such, deserves to be treated like shit. If only someone was around to tell Andie in the book what a putz she was acting like, perhaps Miranda wouldn’t have treated her as badly. At any rate, Hathaway makes the character’s journey from starry-eyed newbie to seasoned fashionista an interesting one to watch. Here's the difference between the Andie in the book and the Andie in the movie: the Andie in the book didn't bother to make an effort - and didn't deserve the job she had.
Also, the movie trumps the book by actually having Andie begin to develop respect and appreciation for Miranda’s work ethic and sacrifices to make the magazine the success that it is. When men barely spend time with their families to create an empire, no one bats an eyelash. Have a woman do it, and suddenly she is the devil. It’s a regrettable double-standard that the book was guilty of. The movie provides a more balanced outlook than the non-stop whining session that the book was. Suffice it to say, I actually loathed the Andie charcter in the book. I kept waiting for Miranda to just slap her in the face and be done with it.
The supporting cast is memorable, with Stanley Tucci and Emily Blunt the standouts as, respectively: (1) Nigel, Miranda’s loyal second-in-command who remains true to her through thick and thin; and (2) Emily, the brittle and insecure assistant who gradually develops respect for Andie as they work together more and more. Their performances nicely complement those of the two stars.
In the end, THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA is a solid and entertaining film that is given added weight by the nuanced performance of Meryl Streep. I shudder to think how this character would’ve turned out if the screenwriters had remained faithful to the book, or if they would have cast a less talented actress in the role. Thankfully, we will never know.
