The Devil Wears Prada

I think every working girl in Manhattan went and saw that movie. I knwo that if you have worked in any industry related to publishing, advertising, or anything HR-heavy, you have to see it. You will spot people you didn't realize were "characters" in your workplace. Think you're the only one that has to go get your boss' Starbucks in the morning, while you are too poor to afford filters for your coffeemker? She's in there. Running personal errands, walking your boss' dog, it all makes sense now. That's everyone's experience here, apparently. Certainly not to the level that Miranda Priestly works her office up, but it's there. The underlying fear, the teeny tiny paychecks, the ridiculous requests that you would refuse were you living anywhere other than Manhattan.

Anne Hathaway did a great job as well. Sometimes she seems too goody-goody for her own good, except of course in "Brokeback Mountain". Beyond that, she sticks with positive roles. I guess it's good, since in The Devil Wears Prada, a 6 is considered bordering on obese. I also liked that view because it drives me insane that Manhattan is so focused on being absolutely tiny. Anything bigger than a two and you're guaranteed to get some strange stares in certain areas. Yet I promise you that in the rest of the world, being an 8 or 10 or even 12 is not only okay, but embraced as being a "normal" size. This is definitely a concentrated area of wanna-be and true anorexics. Seriously.

Overall, I thought the book was better (though the book isn't fantastic or anything) but I loved the movie rendition. THey cut out the importance of some characters, and made others more important, but most importantly, they stayed true to figuring out the differences in book plots and movie plots. In the book, Andy has an issue with her best friend and roommate developing alcoholism over the course of their living together. In the movie this is completely cut out but I was relieved. Imagine how busy it would have been with both Meryl Streep and a drunken twenty something vying for poor Anne Hathaway's time.

Yes, I agree that hte ending was contrived, that they shot down Gap faster than a hungry hunter, and they have/had the most amazing movie wardrobe I've ever seen, but that doesn't stop me from loving it. Or fantasizing about a Balenciaga bag.