Devil Wears Prada (2006)

Entertainment Weekly
"[W]e haven't seen our Meryl like this until now, relishing the role as if it were the swellest Best of Everything achievement award a 13-time Oscar nominee could receive." -- Grade: B 06/30/2006 p.137

New York Times
"[Ms. Streep's] perfectionism has rarely seemed so apt....[Ms. Blunt's performance] is a minor tour de force of smiling hostility." 06/30/2006 p.E1

Box Office
3 stars out of 5 -- "[I]mpressively free of black-and-white characterizations." 08/01/2006 p.40

Total Film
3 stars out of 5 -- "[T]he real pleasure...is watching Meryl Streep brilliantly colour her glamorous gorgon with shadings of vulnerability..." 11/01/2006 36

Sight and Sound
"[A] voyeuristic treat....Streep's performance is as supple as a kid glove, evoking both the loneliness and erotic charge of ultimate power..." 10/01/2006 p.52

Premiere
3 stars out of 4 -- "[A]n appealing comedy....A series of engaging moments filled with beautifully dressed and extremely talented people." 01/01/2007 p.106

Ultimate DVD
3 stars out of 5 -- "This is a rare example of when an adaptation is superior to the novel..." 03/01/2007 p.104

Wall Street Journal
"The devil gets her due in a movie that's leagues better than its source material....With the glorious Meryl Streep giving a nuanced performance in the title role." 08/28/2009

ReelViews 8 of 10
The Devil Wears Prada is two films in one: a caustic, energetic satire of the fashion world and a cautionary melodrama. The first works; the second doesn't. Fortunately, the running time of the former doubles that of the latter, making The Devil Wears Prada more of a hit than a miss. In fact, even through some of the weaker parts, there are still strong performances by standouts Meryl Streep, Emily Blunt, and Stanley Tucci...Anne Hathaway gives a vanilla performance. She has little presence and tends to blend in with the scenery. Despite being the supposed lead, she is upstaged by supporting performers. Meryl Streep gets top billing but has less screen time; nevertheless, her humanized Cruella De Vil dominates scenes. Emily Blunt, who made an impression in My Summer of Love, is rarely outshone, nor is Stanley Tucci. When Streep, Blunt, and Tucci are together, the scene crackles with energy. When none of them are present, The Devil Wears Prada slips into a black hole. Fortunately, such instances are rare...On balance, I enjoyed the film, despite the whiny final half hour and the artificial conclusion. (Whatever happened to hard-edged endings in satires?) I recognize that the film is being marketed toward women, but I see no reason why men can't enjoy what The Devil Wears Prada offers. The kind of corporate culture that comes under assault by Frankel isn't isolated to the fashion industry; viewers might be surprised at the universality of some of the targets. With so many "loud" movies opening in multiplexes, it's refreshing to find something that provides a change of pace. - James Berardinelli
 
Salon.com 5 of 10
David Frankel's "The Devil Wears Prada" is probably supposed to be half fashion fantasy, half satire of the fashion world. What a drag that it's not enough of either. Its heroine, Andy Sachs (Anne Hathaway), is a sweet, cornfed, non-fashion-obsessed recent college graduate who miraculously (and inexplicably) lands a job as an assistant to the most formidable fashion-magazine editor in the land, Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep)...You'd expect the fashion in "The Devil Wears Prada" to be spectacular, particular since Hathaway, whose figure is voluptuous and willowy at once, is bound to look great in pretty much anything...But the outfits, with the exception of a rapid-fire montage in which Hathaway sports everything from '60s-style tweed newsboy caps to spy-girl trench coats to sleek, over-the-knee boots, are a bummer. The costuming here is by the much lauded Patricia Field, a longtime fixture of the downtown New York scene...She's the costumer responsible for the increasingly outlandish (and often absurdly unflattering) get-ups worn by the stars of "Sex and the City" during that show's run...Field doesn't go quite so wild here. But she does put Andy into a few outfits that tread too boldly into fashion-victim territory...Are we supposed to be laughing at, or disapproving of, Andy's newfound (and temporary) interest in fashion, so we'll be proud of her when she moves on to worthier pursuits? Maybe. But then, Andy's character needs to show more sparks of intelligence, and more honorable chutzpah, than the movie allows her. No one likes a wet blanket. Not even one by Dolce and Gabbana. - Stephanie Zacharek