Click Here For Our Interview with Meryl Streep

Click Here For Our Interview with Anne Hathaway

Click Here For Our Interview with Adrian Grenier

Click Here For Our Interview with Emily Blunt

Click Here For Our Interview with Stanley Tucci

Click Here to Read the Theatrical Review!

The Devil Wears Prada

Released in the height of summer 2006, The Devil Wears Prada became one of the summer's most profitable films, reaching nearly $125 million at the domestic box office from a reported $35 million budget. Second only to Pirates of the Caribbean in terms of longevity and wide-reaching appeal, The Devil Wears Prada was one of the summer's most charming success stories.

Even if you're seeing the film for the first time on DVD, it's still evident why audiences connected with it so resoundingly during the summer months. The film, based on a best-selling novel by Lauren Weisberger, is cheery and fluffy and goes down as smoothly as the Starbucks confections guzzled by the high-powered, fashion industry impresarios depicted in the film.

Andy Sachs (Anne Hathaway), a sweet natured, liberal-minded aspiring journalist fresh from college, accepts a job as a personal assistant to the editor of one of New York's premier fashion magazines. Andy has no personal interest in the industry (her idea of fashion is frumpy, shapeless sweaters and knee-length skirts) but she believes she can use the opportunity to network within the journalism field. What she isn't prepared for is her new boss, Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep), a needy, temperamental and inconsiderate creature.

The primary reason for the film's box-office success is Streep's performance. Immediately following the film's release, talk generated about the 13-time Oscar nominee being in line for her fourteenth. And it is a marvelous performance indeed. When you think of "boss from hell," you generally imagine someone with a short temper and a penchant for yelling. Streep takes the character in the exact opposite direction, raising hairs on your neck without ever raising her voice. She plays Miranda like a sedated lion. She appears docile enough but you can never shake the feeling she has the propensity to pounce at a moment's notice.

The film itself is harmless and inoffensive. A summertime trifle concocted to showcase a bravura comedic performance from one of our generation's greatest actresses. Director David Frankel seems to have a good grasp of classical Hollywood cinema and the film follows the archetypal structure to a tee. On the whole, it's somewhat unimaginative but more noticeable is its undeniable enjoyableness.

Fans of the film will delight over the special features arranged by Fox Home Entertainment. There's a heavily detail-oriented account of the production in the feature-length commentary by Frankel, producer Wendy Finerman, costume designer Patricia Field, screenwriter Aline Brosh McKenna, editor Mark Livosi and DP Florian Ballhaus. There's also five featurettes, detailing everything from the adaptation process to

filming in NYC to getting fashion idol Valentino Garavani to appear in the film. There's also a funny gag reel that showcases Hathaway being a klutz and Stanley Tucci improvising alternative punch lines.

Most exciting is 21 minutes of deleted scenes. The 15 scenes are presented in beautiful form, completely processed and scored; some run three minutes, some run thirty seconds. None of them contain anything too crucial but are serviceable at fleshing out the plot. The best scene involves Andy's put-upon boyfriend Nate (Adrian Grenier) imitating her servitude to Miranda. It's a very funny scene but it also highlights the film's under-explored used of gender politics. For all intensive purposes, Nate is the most feminine character in the film (in the traditional Hollywood sense). While Andy is climbing the business ladder, Nate is the homebody, save for a middling career as a chef. The gender reversal is interesting but unfortunately not enough is made of it. In one incredibly brilliant line in the film, Andy defends Miranda by arguing, "If she was a man no one would think twice about the way she behaves." It's an obvious assertion, but one very much worth voicing.

Movie Grade: B

DVD Features Grade: B+

Overall Grade: B+