OVP: The Devil Wears Prada (2006)

Film: The Devil Wears Prada (2006)
Stars: Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Stanley Tucci, Emily Blunt, Adrien Grenier
Director: David Frankel
Oscar History: 2 nominations (Best Actress-Meryl Streep, Costume Design)
(Not So) Snap Judgment Ranking: 4/5 stars

Do you ever have those Friday nights where you think "surely I have something better I should be doing with my night?"  Where you have a mountain of movies to catch up on, actual work from your office, and a dozen other chores that need tending to, and all you want to do is snuggle up and watch a movie on iTunes?  Well, that was me, and I had a hankering to catch The Devil Wears Prada, a movie that falls between the precipice for me of "movie I should probably own on DVD" and "movie that's not quite there yet for me to own on DVD."  So, well, I rented it, and as I'd never reviewed it on the blog before (and we're not terribly far away from finishing up 2006's Oscar race), I figured I'd give you a bit of a flashback to a movie you surely saw in 2006.

(Spoilers Ahead) The film focuses on Andy (Hathaway), a "serious" journalist who inexplicably gets an interview to be second assistant to the editor-in-chief of one of New York's top fashion magazines, Miranda Priestley (Streep).  Like all good movies, she starts out with most people against her, including the first assistant Emily (Blunt, in her breakout role), but is befriended by one of her coworkers Nigel (Tucci), and slowly begins to take the job seriously, in the process becoming chic and appreciative of what the people at Runway really do.  She ends up earning the begrudging respect of Miranda even though she ultimately abandons her in Paris, and all is right with the world in the end.

The film has relatively predictable plot turns (it's obvious that she'll eventually succumb to the charms of this world, but then escape it with her soul fully intact), but is impossibly charming even with such a staid plot, thanks largely to the charms of the cast.  Hathaway is given a relatively thankless role (Andy is meant to be our window into the world, but it's hard in hindsight to really like her considering her holier-than-thou attitude), and does a serviceable job with the performance, but the other three leads are splendid.  Tucci had a career renaissance after this performance, ending up getting a major hit in Julie & Julia three years later (and a totally undeserved Oscar nomination for The Lovely Bones), and is hilariously bitchy as Nigel.  Blunt got a career out of this work (and should have gotten an Oscar nomination), making what could have been a stock character into a side part you root for, with impeccable timing and line delivery.  Best of all is Streep, arguably giving her best performance of this century as Priestley, instantly iconic from her first moments onscreen.  Streep also got a renaissance after this role (though, admittedly, Meryl is never out-of-style), but despite winning an Oscar (and seven nominations) since then, she's never come close to being as pitch-perfect as Miranda.  There's a subdued nature to her, a way where Streep almost feels like she's proving herself rather than having a cheeky "I know I'm a genius" good-time.  I love Streep always, but occasionally she relies a bit too heavily in recent years on her "legend" status.  You see none of that here, with her instead giving full flavor to her work as Miranda.  It's a triumph, and probably would have won her the correct third Oscar had it not been for such a crazy good year for this category (still deciding on my ultimate victor, but really there were no bad options with Oscar in 2006).

The main problem, in hindsight, is that perhaps in a more understanding or "be yourself" sort of era as 2018 celebrates, it's impossible to look at Andy's personal and love life without rolling your eyes or actively wishing she'd stick with Runway.  Her boyfriend (Grenier) is a jerk, not understanding that this incredible opportunity is keeping her from his birthday party (like he's eleven!), and while the mild infidelity late in the film might seem bad, it was an unsolicited kiss-on-the-cheek.  Worse still are her friends, who desperately want free stuff from her and demand that she always give them attention, but give little sympathy for the fact that she's trying to pay her dues in a job that's a great opportunity.  Honestly, this ages poorly, as does the fact that there are no openly gay characters in the film (Tucci's Nigel or Rich Sommer's Doug are obviously implied to be gay, but never outwardly acknowledge it).  It's proof that you should always be as progressive as possible with the politics of your film, because you'll at the very least look forward-thinking in such a situation.  Still, though, this is a better film that I think I even acknowledged at the time, littered with great performances and a brisk, if anticipated, script.