The Devil Wears Prada (2006)

Widescreen Edition DVD

If you want to see great looking girls and also get an education in fashion than The Devil Wears Prada is for you. Anne Hathaway stars as Andrea Sachs, a would be journalist who ends up taking a job as personal assistant to Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep). That pretentious sounding name should tell you the kind of boss she is. Well, she makes Andrea's life hell because Andrea is working in fashion, she doesn't care about fashion, but she's also not doing a very good job as Miranda's assistant. After a pep talk from Nigel (Stanley Tucci), Andrea changes her ways and soon finds herself becoming the apple of Miranda's eye. This sadly estranges Andrea from her friends and her boyfriend (Adrian Grenier), and in the end Andrea has to choose which life she is going to live. Will she stay in the world of fashion which seems to turn backstabbing into an artform? Or, will she continue to follow her dream?

Ultimately, I don't think we learn anything new from a film like The Devil Wears Prada, but it sure was enjoyable having this realization after the movie was over.

Audio Commentary
Director David Frankel, producer Wendy Finerman, costume designer Patricia Field, screenwriter Aline Brosh McKenna, editor Mark Livolsi and director of photography Florian Ballhaus are all on this commentary track, and truthfully it should have just been the director and one other person. It's not that these folks are talking over one another incessantly, it's just that I don't think many of them offer much to warrant being a part of this. They discuss shooting the aerial shots in New York City, what were and weren't sets, the transitions used within the film, the music, etc.. All in all, I don't think I would have missed this commentary track much if it hadn't been on this DVD.

Boss From Hell Featurette

Deleted Scenes with Director and Editor Commentary
Believe it or not, there are 15 scenes that were deleted from this movie. This isn't The Lord of the Rings, so I think the fans would have been okay with less, but with titles like "Andy Waiting for the Book," we get to see a little more into the characters. Also, having the commentary track helps us understand why these scenes were taken out of the movie. I felt that as it was The Devil Wears Prada played just fine, but I think if you really liked the movie than you will appreciate what is being offered up here.

Fashion Visionary Patricia Field Featurette

NYC and Fashion Featurette
I liked this featurette because I felt we got to see more of the world depicted in the movie. The fact that people act this way and think what they're doing is so important (there is a great scene where Miranda dresses down Andrea about her fashion choices already being decided for her), could be laughable if there wasn't as much truth to it. This featurette juxtaposes nicely with the world that we have been seeing on this film. I feel we are getting a sharp glimpse into the movers and shakers of the fashion business, and anybody with any interest in clothing would be wise not to miss this.

Getting Valentino Featurette

The Trip to the Big Screen Featurette
This is a "making of" that examines how the filmmakers and his crew translated Lauren Weisberger's best-selling book into a movie. Apparently, the producers sought director David Frankel out, and once this was established they then proceed to breakdown the story. Apparently, there were more logistics to pulling off this film than I thought there were, mainly because capturing the world of fashion isn't as easy as putting nice clothes in front of a camera and photographing them. Once again, should you be interested in finding out this movie's origins and production history (some of which felt redundant by this point), I would certainly suggest watching this.

I have become a big fan of Anne Hathaway. I didn't think too much of her when she was doing those The Princess Diaries movies, but I saw a clip of her in that film Havoc and I suddenly saw her much differently than I ever had before. Then she gave a great performance in Brokeback Mountain, and suddenly I no longer felt she was this little girl who just did the movies Hilary Duff doesn't want to do. In The Devil Wears Prada she is perfect. She really embodies that youthful spirit, and even in the improbably ending of the movie, I somewhat believe that she would indeed make the decision that she does.

All in all, filled with interesting performances and giving many people a glimpse of a world they only see in magazines, The Devil Wears Prada dresses things up quite nicely.