Common Sense Note
Parents should know that the movie features cruel judgments about body size and fashion. Characters are materialistic and catty (usually as comedy, though some hurtful comments are also made). Characters use mild language (s--t) and drink alcohol. Lots of mentions of high-end fashion brands. Younger kids won't be interested, since the subject matter won't mean anything to them.
Families can discuss Andy's plan to use her assistant job as a route to becoming a journalist: How does she rationalize this choice? How does Andy learn to fit into the world of high fashion by wearing the right clothes, dieting, and becoming increasingly judgmental of others? What messages does the movie send about the importance of physical appearances?
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Cynthia Fuchs
Sometimes over-the-top and sometimes sentimental, the movie is most notable for Meryl Streep's remarkably subtle performance as super-diva Miranda Priestly.
Based on Lauren Weisberger's roman à clef about working for notorious Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, the film introduces Miranda (editor of a fictional magazine called Runway) by way of her new second assistant, Andy (Anne Hathaway). A socially conscious journalism major at Northwestern University, Andy takes the job (which does not involve writing) because, as she's told repeatedly, if she survives a year, she'll be able to get a job at any magazine.
Little does she know how tough this year will be: Her primary jobs are fetching coffee and outfits from various designers around town, as well as Miranda's dry cleaning, lunch, and items for her twin daughters (including the unpublished manuscript of the upcoming Harry Potter book, no easy task to procure), but she's also at the beck and call of first assistant Emily (Emily Blunt). Worse, she's reminded daily that her clothes are ugly ("I'm sure you have plenty more poly-blend where that comes from") and she's "fat" (at size six).
Andy undergoes a makeover with the help of art director Nigel (Stanley Tucci) and devotes herself to pleasing Miranda, leaving her live-in boyfriend Nate (Adrian Grenier) and best friend Lilly (Tracie Thoms) feeling abandoned. But even as she's seduced by a cynical writer (Simon Baker) and enticed by the sense of power the fashion folks claim for themselves (Nigel says that designers' work is "greater than art, because you live your life in it"), Andy never loses her moral sensibility. While the movie loves its costumes and montages (often together), the plot is creaky and the target far too easy: Everyone knows the world of haute couture is cutthroat, imperious, and lurid.
That said, Streep's Miranda is something slightly else, complex and compelling. Though her outfits and superciliousness are as outrageous as everyone else's, Miranda tends to speak quickly and quietly, to assume her supremacy even as she's vulnerable.
Families who enjoy this movie might also like the similarly themed The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement (featuring a younger Hathaway) and Working Girl, or fashion-focused films, like Designing Woman (1957), Mahogany (1975), and Robert Altman's Prêt-à-Porter.
Rate It!
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Sexual ContentSome sexual allusions ("I can think of something we can do that doesn't require any clothing"); Andy has sex with writer on their first date (after admitting she's drunk), then regrets it. |
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ViolenceGirl hit by taxi flies over hood to the street, ends up in hospital with bruised face and broken leg. |
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LanguageOne "a--hole," a couple of "hells," several s-words (Andy unleashes a stream of them during one upset). |
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Social BehaviorBoth arrogant and insecure, fashionistas lie and betray one another; heroine maintains moral compass. |
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CommercialismAll about high fashion (names dropped and shown include Prada, Pucci, Gucci, Calvin Klein, Dolce & Gabbana, Bill Blass, Chloé, Marc Jacobs); plot-pointed references to Starbucks. |
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Drug/Alcohol/TobaccoSocial drinking at parties and restaurants; Andy drinks wine at home and gets tipsy on a date. |
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