I liked it a lot. It's well-crafted in almost every respect, and it is deeply enjoyable. This isn't a fashion movie - it's a movie about the office and trying to balance your personal life and your ideals with what you have to do at work. All the acting is good, and Ms. Streep is superb. She very much deserves to be on all sorts of award short-lists next winter. The movie has one rather big unfortunate flaw in that the character of the protagonist isn't written very well - why she does what she does is sometimes less than clear (have your epiphany already!), and she often seems less than the bright go-getter she is said to be. But Ms. Hathawy is still quite engaging, and that doesn't come close to destroying the film. A lot of people can relate to this movie, it's fun, it's well-made - so hey, I say you should check it out.
Posted by armand at July 2, 2006 11:21 PM | TrackBack | Posted to MoviesBro,
[Spoilers] I just got back from seeing it, and I definitely agree with your take. Paula read the book, and she says that the book is very different from the movie (for instance, she doesn't walk over Emily to go to Paris because Emily's just sick, not fired). And there's no cooling down of the dragon lady and warming of their relationship at the end. It was definitely worth seeing, though.
I didn't read the book, but I read a review suggesting that the script was much more thoughtful than the book, which was described as a lightweight chick-book snark of the author's former boss.
I mostly agree with Armand's review, except to say that I didn't find Andy's motivations particularly unclear.
Posted by: jacflash at July 4, 2006 06:30 PM | PERMALINKWell maybe her motives are clear - but at the very least she's rather absurdly obtuse about what pursuing those motives will mean to other aspects of her life.
Posted by: Armand at July 4, 2006 11:01 PM | PERMALINK