What I Rented - The Devil Wears Prada

Meryl Streep is so good in The Devil Wears Prada that her performance overshadows the rest of the movie, creating a horrible void whenever her character is offscreen or not being mentioned. The plot is something we’ve seen numerous times. In order to advance her career Andy Sachs (Anne Hathaway) gets a job with Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep) a notoriously cruel boss. To prove she’s up for anything Andy sacrifices family and friends, but most importantly her own morals, as she enters into the cutthroat fashion magazine business.

Instead of turning Miranda into a caricature, Streep creates a fully realized character who hurls passively aggressive insults like they are 44 caliber bullets. She uses psychological mind games to tear down anyone who gets in her way, and it’s fascinating to watch Streep think through each new chess move. Yet, as manipulative as Miranda Priestly is, Streep never turns her into a cardboard villain by layering the performance with a twisted sense of morality and ethics. By the end of the film it’s not so easy to dislike Miranda Priestly.

Unfortunately, I can’t say the same about the cast of characters the audience is supposed to root for. Hathaway’s longtime boyfriend, played by Adrian Grenier, is a colossal, self-righteous bore. His sole purpose in the movie is to provide “ahhh-shucks, ain’t I cute” lines and glances so that the audience will feel terrible when Andy ditches him on his birthday. Instead of trying to craft a realistic relationship, one that evolves (or devolves) naturally, and has honest conversations about Andy’s transformations, the writers use Grenier’s character as a symbol to judge Andy’s behaviour without allowing her the courtesy of replying.

Fortunately, Streep is the main feature, and watching Andy’s struggle between hating Miranda and respecting her is fascinating. This isn’t a story about Andy disappointing the people around her, it’s a story about how Andy adapts her ethical beliefs in order to achieve success. When Miranda demonstrates to a judgmental Andy how she has cut the same ethical corners as herself, it makes the same point in one fantastic second that the boyfriend subplot tries to make over several agonizing and repetitive minutes.

Star Rating - *** out of 4 (it’s a close **1/2, but Streep is so good I’ve got to add half a star).