‘THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA’
Newsrooms were once tough, demanding places where only the strong, the intelligent, the resourceful and the talented survived.
Not unlike working for the extremely demanding Miranda Priestly (an Oscar-worthy turn by Meryl Streep), editor of the powerful Runway magazine in the devilishly good and most quotable movie of the year, "The Devil Wears Prada" (Fox, 4 stars).
Miranda lives for Runway. Not unreasonably she expects all who work for the fashion magazine to share her enthusiasm, her insanely focused drive, her laser-precise take on fashion, her irreproachably high standards and her ungodly hours.
And she expects them to lose a husband or lover or two along the way, in the service of high fashion.
Who wouldn't kill to work for Miranda Priestly?
Well, that's the movie. Enter the lamb, Andy Sachs (clean-scrubbed naif Anne Hathaway), her journalism degree still damp and her fashion sense somewhere between Target and Marshall's. She applies for the job as Miranda Priestly's second administrative assistant not knowing a thing about her future boss.
She gets the job "a million girls would kill for." Miranda, tired of tall, thin and stupid assistants wonders if this frumpy size 6 might offer more, even the unthinkable: challenge her.
Miranda during the eviscerating job interview: "You have no sense of fashion."
Andy: "I think that depends on. ..."
Miranda, coldly but quietly cutting in: "No, no. That wasn't a question."
Over time sad sack Andy turns in her polyester sweaters for haute couture and her size 6 frame for a size 4 but she never quite loses her ambition to become a serious journalist, nor her Ohio-bred self-esteem.
She plays the fashion magazine game and wins the begrudging admiration of some key players, like first assistant Emily (acid-tongued and fab-u-lous Emily Blunt); the magazine's beleaguered art director Nigel (another scene stealer, Stanley Tucci); and the smarmy fashion writer Christian Thompson (Simon Baker).
But she also begins to see her friends and especially her boyfriend Nate (Adrian Grenier) slipping away. At some point, Andy has to turn off the incessantly chirping BlackBerry and figure out what it is she wants.
(My first thought was dump the friends - they accept her ridiculously expensive fashion gifts one moment and then dump all over her for not being available the next. And dump the boyfriend, too. He doesn't support her in this first year of a difficult job - and he also works long and odd hours as a second assistant sous-chef, but doesn't see his career as a problem.)
In the end, this movie couldn't lose. If, as Emily points out, Andy sold her soul to fashion the moment she first strapped on a pair of Jimmy Choo's - well, goodbye Ohio, hello high society. And if she walks away from it all, that's damn satisfying too.
People who do great things - actors, athletes, politicians, scientists, artists, writers, warriors - must give up a lot to become the best because there are plenty of equally talented people maneuvering for the same spot at the top. It really comes down to who will sacrifice the most.
In the back of their limo, when Andy questions her own ambitions, Miranda tells her, "Don't be ridiculous, Andrea, everyone wants this. Everyone wants to be us!"
Miranda believes it with all her heart. And she's probably right, to some extent. But somewhere between wanting that life and living it, there resides Andy Sachs. Possibly all the happier for it.
ALSO THIS WEEK
"Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby" (Sony, 3 stars) Ricky Bobby (Will Ferrell, hitting comedic heights on all cylinders) is the Amanda Priestly of NASCAR. He knows of only one place to be, and that is first across the finishing line. Ricky Bobby is riding high - big house, hot wife, tons 'o' toys and the best record on the circuit. Until, the accident. Worse, Ricky Bobby loses to a (possibly) French Formula One driver Jean Girard (yes, the one and only Sacha Baron Cohen) - and then loses his nerve. Then his wife and house - to his best friend Cal Naughton Jr. (John C. Reilly). Naughton also takes his spot on the track. Can Ricky Bobby find the inner mojo to take back the post position? Duh. This is a Will Ferrell movie!
"Mozart and the Whale" (Sony, 3 stars) Two people with Asperger's syndrome meet in a support group and are drawn to each other and stymied in their relationship by their disorder. This is a sweet and intelligent romantic movie with broad audience appeal. (Asperger's, by the way, is the exhibition of autistic-like characteristics by people with normal development and language abilities. They often take an obsessive interest in things, are pre-occupied with routine and lack some social skills. So, now you see some of the challenges.) Josh Hartnett and Radha Mitchell play the lead characters. The movie is loosely based on the life of Jerry Newport who formed a nationwide support network for "aspies."
"Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont" (Westlake, 3 1/2 stars) Joan Plowright plays an aging widow who decides to spend her waning years in a small London retirement hotel. There she battles perhaps the worst affliction of old age - loneliness. When a struggling young writer (Rupert Friend) comes into her life, both their lives will change. Based on the novel by English author Elizabeth Taylor, this is a bright gem from the independent film circuit. You won't want to miss it.
"The House of Sand" (Sony, 3 stars) In this generation-spanning drama from Brazil, a young pregnant woman and her mother are taken by caravan to the desert, where her husband hopes to start a farm in 1910. When he dies, she struggles nearly six decades to secure the place and find peace for her family against encroaching sand and time. The cast includes Oscar nominee Fernanda Montenegro ("Central Station") and her real-life daughter Fernanda Torres.
"World Trade Center" (Paramount, 3 stars) Director Oliver Stone finds the heart in the real-life story of two New York policemen who became trapped under the rubble of the World Trade Center towers on 9/11. Terrific performances by Nicolas Cage, Michael Pena, Maria Bello and Maggie Gyllenhaal bring focus and balance to the humanity and tragedy and make this a powerful movie experience. I couldn't have watched it otherwise.
FROM THE VAULTS
"Dean Martin Double Feature" (Sony) Of course, when you think Dean Martin you think a double. In the 1968 romantic comedy "How to Save a Marriage (And Ruin Your Life)" Martin mistakes wholesome country girl Stella Stevens for the mistress of his pal. Complications, then romance, follow - very Rock Hudson and Doris Day-like. In "Who Was That Lady?" (1960) Martin is a TV writer who helps professor pal Tony Curtis concoct a tale to appease Curtis' wife (Janet Leigh). She caught him in the arms of a student. Martin's spy alibi gets around and soon real spooks are on their tails - or tales.
"The Doors: 15-year Anniversary Edition" (Lionsgate) Oliver Stone's trippy bio-flick of one of the greatest rock-poets to command the stage, Jim Morrison (Val Kilmer). This edition is completely remastered. Contains two new features on Morrison and the Doors, deleted scenes, more.
IT CAME FROM TV
"St. Elsewhere" (Fox, Season 1) The series that set the bar for modern ensemble hospital drama serials. Recipient of 13 Emmys and 60 nominations over six seasons. Fledgling actors include Denzel Washington, Howie Mandel, Ed Begley Jr., David Morse and Tim Robbins.
More TV: "Gomer Pyle, USMC" (Paramount, Season 1); "Andy Griffith Show" (Paramount, Season 8); "Full House" (Warner, Season 5).
Also, holiday treat, "The Year Without Santa Claus" starring John Goodman, Chris Kattan, Eddie Griffin and Carol Kane. (Airs on NBC, Dec. 11).
DVD RATINGS
4 stars: Don't miss: rent it/buy it
3 stars: Worth the risk: rent it
2 stars: On the tipping point: if nothing else is available
1 star: Don't bother: wait until it's in the $1 bin
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