Friday, July 07, 2006

The Devil wears what?

I saw The Devil Wears Prada on Sunday because I was more in the mood for that than Superman (which I want to see, but not close to as much as A Scanner Darkly).

This was surprisingly playing at the Paseo in addition to the expected Laemmle theatre and I went to the late showing. The flick was somewhere between good and very good, and I definitely recommend it as something worth seeing. (Lemming: You'll like it.)

The movie pokes fun at the fashion industry and is based on a book that does the same. (Actually, my understanding is that the book's tone is really harsh, whereas the movie was mild about such things.) It's also very much a coming-of-age story, and that aspect of things was a well-done rendition of things we've all seen before many times.

Meryl Streep is absolutely awesome as the ice-cold boss (aka, "The Dragon Lady") of a fashion magazine, and this character also provided a very interesting contrast to her role in A Praire Home Companion. Streep gave a good performance in Prairie, but she really shined in her supporting role here. Simply, she is perfectly cast as an icy bitch. (If they ever make a movie about Hillary Clinton, I think that Meryl Streep absolutely has to play her.)

Stanly Tucci also gave a memorable performance.

All in all, I definitely recommend this film. Don't let the subject matter drive you away---there is definitely no need to like fashion to enjoy this movie (as I have demonstrated!).

Brief update: I'm updating this post because I forgot to mention that one of the film's producers, Wendy Finerman, went to my high school.

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