The Devil Wears Prada (2006)

A smart but sensible new graduate lands a job as an assistant to Miranda Priestly, the demanding editor-in-chief of a high fashion magazine.

Director:

David Frankel

Writers:

Aline Brosh McKenna (screenplay), Lauren Weisberger (novel)

Stars:

Anne Hathaway, Meryl Streep, Adrian Grenier

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 20 wins & 50 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Meryl Streep	...	Miranda Priestly
Anne Hathaway	...	Andy Sachs
Emily Blunt	...	Emily
Stanley Tucci	...	Nigel
Simon Baker	...	Christian Thompson
Adrian Grenier	...	Nate
Tracie Thoms	...	Lily
Rich Sommer	...	Doug
Daniel Sunjata	...	James Holt
David Marshall Grant	...	Richard Sachs
James Naughton	...	Stephen
Tibor Feldman	...	Irv Ravitz
Rebecca Mader	...	Jocelyn
Jimena Hoyos	...	Lucia
Gisele Bündchen	...	Serena

Storyline

In New York, the simple and naive just-graduated in journalism Andrea Sachs is hired to work as the second assistant of the powerful and sophisticated Miranda Priestly, the ruthless and merciless executive of the Runway fashion magazine. Andrea dreams to become a journalist and faces the opportunity as a temporary professional challenge. The first assistant Emily advises Andrea about the behavior and preferences of their cruel boss, and the stylist Nigel helps Andrea to dress more adequately for the environment. Andrea changes her attitude and behavior, affecting her private life and the relationship with her boyfriend Nate, her family and friends. In the end, Andrea learns that life is made of choices.

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Plot Keywords:

magazine | fashion | fashion industry | new york city | publishing | 

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Taglines:

High fashion, low cunning - and the boss from hell.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for some sensuality

Details

Country:

USA France

Language:

English French

Release Date:

30 June 2006 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Devil Wears Prada

Filming Locations:

Bubby's Restaurant, Tribeca, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$35,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$27,537,244, 2 July 2006, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$124,740,460

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$326,551,094

Company Credits

Production Co:

Fox 2000 Pictures, Dune Entertainment, Major Studio Partners

Technical Specs

Runtime:

109 min

Sound Mix:

SDDS DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Anna Wintour, the formidable editor of Vogue (and the rumored inspiration for Miranda Priestly), was not invited to the premiere. She did, however, attend an advance screening for the press (dressed, head-to-toe, in Prada).

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Goofs

When Andy leaves the office the door clearly says pull but when everyone goes through it they push the door.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Nate: Good luck.

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Crazy Credits

The credits have a sheen on them, like they've been given a coat of polish.

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Connections

Referenced in Ugly Betty: A Tree Grows in Guadalajara (2007)

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Soundtracks

Feelin' Hypnotized (Black Liquid Remix)
(2004)
Written by Angel Alanis, DJ Colette (as Colette Marino), and Christopher Penny
Performed by DJ Colette
Courtesy of OM Records

User Reviews

Fully Dressed

Phil Spector invented modern pop music. Oh, some elements shift from time to time and different performer types are selected to posture in front. But the basic formula is one of filling all the holes. He called it "wall of sound," but Eric Clapton popularized the notion that the lead defines "holes" and its the job of the producer to fill them all.

It has to do with some hardwired notion of richness in the way we perceive things. My own theory is that usually we encounter things that to be understood have to be placed in some sort of context. We have to provide that context by being whole beings who have our own world and understand it. But we don't, usually. We're incomplete, lazy about this. We want prefabricated worlds to provide context and eliminate ambiguities.

That's why we prefer it when an object comes with its own context, like in pop music where there is no vacuum for us to use. Fashion is the same way: there's some sort of bold statement, but it only works if all the holes are filled with accompanying items and attitudes.

And its the same with movies. If you want a movie to be popular, to sit well in the popular eye, you need to make it lush in the small. This project shows signs that it is carefully produced in this way. Look at what happens in the backgrounds: colors, energy, motion. Look at what happens in the blocking: compound events conflated. Look at even the simple setup where a friend sees our young heroine flirt with a suitor. There's a huge amount of attention paid to the environment and the people which surround her.

A Paris street walk is another very fine example.

It isn't as valuable as what I usually look for: actual cinematic art. This is more craft, stagecraft. But it is well enough done to be admired. And entirely apt for a story about an industry that does the same thing.

+++++

There are essentially four characters in this. The boss, our young writer, the "first assistant" who is placed in between in several ways, and the gay (we infer) fashion expert who is placed in between in other ways.

Part of the richness is that each of these is fuller than the usual "lesson" movie would have. All four are compelling performances. But if you haven't yet seen this, I'd like you to pay particular attention to Emily Blount. She's the number 1 assistant.

You've probably seen her before in the very special "My Summer of Love," something human about love and seductions. I think she's a real talent, something different than the others. Oh, they're very good at what they do, finding the right notes. But this woman has something else, something more visceral.

You see, you can dance your own context into this and turn it from something that has no room for you. Try it by following the Emily Blount character, whose name is also Emily. (Hathaway's character is the "new Emily.")

+++++

The moral issue we are meant to capture is more sophisticated than usual, too. Streep's character isn't a devil at all. She isn't quite a useful person in the manner that she actually creates. She doesn't make anything. She doesn't create or design or do anything normally considered the root of the food chain in term of value.

She's part journalist, a sort of elevated, influential journalism that Anne's character doesn't have the horsepower to accept. She's also an arbiter of what matters. Its not a new notion, that some journalists create the world they present, and make it seem real by absolute consistency and projected confidence. Its what politics is. Fashion and politics, religion.

That final challenge, about whether our young journalist will follow what she sees as the devil, that final challenge is more complex than it seems. And though this is a mainstream movie, part of the enrichment is that they didn't tone it down. And they left us with the conclusion that the girl left and wrote the story we see, one which casts the successful worldbuilder as the devil.

++++

Speaking about worldbuilders and fashion. To appreciate this movie, you must see the one on which it relies, "Funny Face." Audrey Hepburn, with the smile that Hathaway mines. Similar situation: fashion, clunky girl becomes fashionably adept, conflict between the "real" and pretend (in that case, philosophy). A trip to Paris — some of the very same establishing shots in fact. An ambiguous resolution that in Hepburn's case involved photography instead of writing.

That movie made Jackie Kennedy possible, which made Jack Kennedy president, and from there, another "wall of sound" that built a reality, incidentally concurrent with the rise of Phil Spector...

Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.