Movie Reviews - The Devil Wears Prada, O
RL post won't be here for awhile, so I figured I'd give you guys some movie reviews. :)
The Devil Wears Prada
Plot Summary - A naive young woman comes to New York and scores a job as the assistant to one of the city's biggest magazine editors, the ruthless and cynical Miranda Priestly.
Actors - Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Stanley Tucci
My Review - The only reason I saw this movie in the theatre was because The Omen had left and there was nothing else to watch. I had no expectations (didn't read the book) - this was just a movie I was going in to see just for the heck of it. And yet I came out of it sorely disappointed, though at first I wasn't really able to pinpoint why. Now I can.
For starters, the plot isn't exciting at all. At least, not to me. Andy (played by Anne Hathaway) gets a job in New York with a fashion magazine and has to deal with her horrible boss. Because of all the effort Andy puts into her job and because she, herself, is changing, her relationships with her friends and boyfriend are tested. However, we are never given any reason to care about these relationships. The chemistry between the actors is just off.
The relationships that are interesting in this film are that between Andy and Miranda (the boss) & Andy and Emily (who is her co-worker). That is partly because the acting of Meryl Streep and Emily Blunt is outstanding. Meryl Streep has always been a genius and I think I'll always worship her, but I loved newcomer Emily Blunt. I started out hating her character and then had a sort of fondness for her by the end of the film, even though she doesn't really have any redeemable qualities.
Speaking of acting, I have to mention Stanley Tucci, who played another co-worker of Andy's, Nigel. I have loved Stanley Tucci since The Pelican Brief and was pleasantly surprised to see that he was in this movie. I wish he would just get a dang nomination for something already. As far as Anne Hathaway is concerned, I think anyone could have played the part. This role was way too close to The Princess Diaries, in that you have the frumpy, ugly duckling girl who dramatically changes into this beautiful girl. I wish she'd get more roles like the one she had in Brokeback Mountain.
Other than acting, there's not really much in this movie. I'm completely taken aback by the fact that people are saying this is one of the funniest movies they've ever seen. The first few jokes are funny, yes (especially when Andy is taking a message for her boss and asks how to spell 'Gabbana'), but eventually they get tiresome. Nearly all of the jokes in the film are about incompetence or weight. But the jokes are not the only thing that gets tiresome - watching Andy trying to live up the to the expectations of her boss and then whine about it also wears on you. I actually fell asleep during a bit of it.
The one thing about this movie that I think turned me off to it the most was the fact that throughout the whole flick, I was uncomfortable. This movie gives the message that clothing makes you who you are and what you wear matters. A size '6' is considered to be fat. Eating disorders are glamourized. What pisses me off about this is the fact that not only will the young girls/teenagers who go to see this because of Anne Hathaway (and you know they will) will take this to heart. Isn't there already enough pressure in our society to look like the people in magazines? Don't we have enough problems with anorexia and bulemia and everything else? Also, there's a scene where Nigel and Andy toast to Andy's success - in dropping from a size '6' to a size '4'. Yes, the whole plight of Andy is to be successful in her job, but are there any toasts to that? No.
Truly sorry if this sounds bitter to anyone, but all of this rubbed me the wrong way. I probably should have expected this of a fashion movie.
Which brings me to my last point...the clothes were ugly.
Grade - D (saved only by the acting)
O
Plot Summary - An update of Shakespeare's 'Othello' with a young cast, set in a high school and centered around basketball player Odin.
Actors - Josh Hartnett, Mekhi Phifer, Julia Stiles
My Review - It must be said that this film was based on Shakespeare's Othello and it manages to stay true to it. I didn't particularly like the play, but I loved the film.
There were are some changes from the play to the film and they work very well. Such changes include character names (Othello to Odin, Desdemona to Desi, Iago to Hugo), Othello's war status changed to success on the basketball court, etc. Because the characters in this movie are teenagers, I also liked the added bonus of having Hugo's relationship with his father be strained because his father loves Odin more. This adds more motive into Hugo's plan to basically screw with everyone's lives.
One thing that I absolutely loved about this film was the fact that it's so realistic. It's actually believable and it's raw. There are some disturbing sequences (obviously) including one sex scene that had me actually cringing, but they aren't just thrown in there for the heck of it - there's purpose behind every scene.
Acting was good. Julia Stiles was okay (could have been better) and it was great to see Mekhi Phifer outside of ER (which is the only thing I've seen him in). He was awesome. But the performance that stole my breath away was Josh Hartnett's. Quite possibly, this could be because I am a JH fangirl, but I don't think so. He was just so perfect as the subtlely cold, cunning, and conflicted Hugo. I empathized more with him than anyone else. Seeing as I've only seen JH in Pearl Harbor, I was really taken with his role here. He portrays Hugo as so innocent, the person you would least expect to cause so much chaos, but underneath it all is just incredibly dark and willing to do anything to win the attention of others. This portrayal is a lot more convincing (and disturbing) than I think Iago is in the play.
There's one particular scene that really chilled me when I saw it; when Hugo's girlfriend presents him with the scarf he asked her to steal from Desi's bedroom, she says to him, "All this time I've been looking for romance and all I had to do was steal something." To which he replies, "You didn't steal anything, you just borrowed it for a little while. And if you wouldn't mind I'd like to borrow you." That line actually looks really lame typed out, but the way Josh Hartnett says it is really disturbing on so many levels.
The way that Hugo gets everyone to do what he wants is perfect. The movie really shows how relationships (any kind, not just romantic ones) can fall apart just like that. It's really, really awesome. I only wish that three things had happened. 1) I would have liked to see less basketball in the film. I understand that Odin is a star basketball player, but did it have to be shown all the time? 2) I would have liked to see more of why Desi and Odin love each other so much. I thought that there was a lot more to their relationship in the film than there was in the play, but still. 3) I would have liked more scenes between Desi and Hugo. They shared about two words throughout the film. :/
All in all, I recommend everyone see this. You'll be thinking about it afterwards for awhile.
Grade - B
Will be doing others later. I ♥ you guys!
The Devil Wears Prada
Plot Summary - A naive young woman comes to New York and scores a job as the assistant to one of the city's biggest magazine editors, the ruthless and cynical Miranda Priestly.
Actors - Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Stanley Tucci
My Review - The only reason I saw this movie in the theatre was because The Omen had left and there was nothing else to watch. I had no expectations (didn't read the book) - this was just a movie I was going in to see just for the heck of it. And yet I came out of it sorely disappointed, though at first I wasn't really able to pinpoint why. Now I can.
For starters, the plot isn't exciting at all. At least, not to me. Andy (played by Anne Hathaway) gets a job in New York with a fashion magazine and has to deal with her horrible boss. Because of all the effort Andy puts into her job and because she, herself, is changing, her relationships with her friends and boyfriend are tested. However, we are never given any reason to care about these relationships. The chemistry between the actors is just off.
The relationships that are interesting in this film are that between Andy and Miranda (the boss) & Andy and Emily (who is her co-worker). That is partly because the acting of Meryl Streep and Emily Blunt is outstanding. Meryl Streep has always been a genius and I think I'll always worship her, but I loved newcomer Emily Blunt. I started out hating her character and then had a sort of fondness for her by the end of the film, even though she doesn't really have any redeemable qualities.
Speaking of acting, I have to mention Stanley Tucci, who played another co-worker of Andy's, Nigel. I have loved Stanley Tucci since The Pelican Brief and was pleasantly surprised to see that he was in this movie. I wish he would just get a dang nomination for something already. As far as Anne Hathaway is concerned, I think anyone could have played the part. This role was way too close to The Princess Diaries, in that you have the frumpy, ugly duckling girl who dramatically changes into this beautiful girl. I wish she'd get more roles like the one she had in Brokeback Mountain.
Other than acting, there's not really much in this movie. I'm completely taken aback by the fact that people are saying this is one of the funniest movies they've ever seen. The first few jokes are funny, yes (especially when Andy is taking a message for her boss and asks how to spell 'Gabbana'), but eventually they get tiresome. Nearly all of the jokes in the film are about incompetence or weight. But the jokes are not the only thing that gets tiresome - watching Andy trying to live up the to the expectations of her boss and then whine about it also wears on you. I actually fell asleep during a bit of it.
The one thing about this movie that I think turned me off to it the most was the fact that throughout the whole flick, I was uncomfortable. This movie gives the message that clothing makes you who you are and what you wear matters. A size '6' is considered to be fat. Eating disorders are glamourized. What pisses me off about this is the fact that not only will the young girls/teenagers who go to see this because of Anne Hathaway (and you know they will) will take this to heart. Isn't there already enough pressure in our society to look like the people in magazines? Don't we have enough problems with anorexia and bulemia and everything else? Also, there's a scene where Nigel and Andy toast to Andy's success - in dropping from a size '6' to a size '4'. Yes, the whole plight of Andy is to be successful in her job, but are there any toasts to that? No.
Truly sorry if this sounds bitter to anyone, but all of this rubbed me the wrong way. I probably should have expected this of a fashion movie.
Which brings me to my last point...the clothes were ugly.
Grade - D (saved only by the acting)
O
Plot Summary - An update of Shakespeare's 'Othello' with a young cast, set in a high school and centered around basketball player Odin.
Actors - Josh Hartnett, Mekhi Phifer, Julia Stiles
My Review - It must be said that this film was based on Shakespeare's Othello and it manages to stay true to it. I didn't particularly like the play, but I loved the film.
There were are some changes from the play to the film and they work very well. Such changes include character names (Othello to Odin, Desdemona to Desi, Iago to Hugo), Othello's war status changed to success on the basketball court, etc. Because the characters in this movie are teenagers, I also liked the added bonus of having Hugo's relationship with his father be strained because his father loves Odin more. This adds more motive into Hugo's plan to basically screw with everyone's lives.
One thing that I absolutely loved about this film was the fact that it's so realistic. It's actually believable and it's raw. There are some disturbing sequences (obviously) including one sex scene that had me actually cringing, but they aren't just thrown in there for the heck of it - there's purpose behind every scene.
Acting was good. Julia Stiles was okay (could have been better) and it was great to see Mekhi Phifer outside of ER (which is the only thing I've seen him in). He was awesome. But the performance that stole my breath away was Josh Hartnett's. Quite possibly, this could be because I am a JH fangirl, but I don't think so. He was just so perfect as the subtlely cold, cunning, and conflicted Hugo. I empathized more with him than anyone else. Seeing as I've only seen JH in Pearl Harbor, I was really taken with his role here. He portrays Hugo as so innocent, the person you would least expect to cause so much chaos, but underneath it all is just incredibly dark and willing to do anything to win the attention of others. This portrayal is a lot more convincing (and disturbing) than I think Iago is in the play.
There's one particular scene that really chilled me when I saw it; when Hugo's girlfriend presents him with the scarf he asked her to steal from Desi's bedroom, she says to him, "All this time I've been looking for romance and all I had to do was steal something." To which he replies, "You didn't steal anything, you just borrowed it for a little while. And if you wouldn't mind I'd like to borrow you." That line actually looks really lame typed out, but the way Josh Hartnett says it is really disturbing on so many levels.
The way that Hugo gets everyone to do what he wants is perfect. The movie really shows how relationships (any kind, not just romantic ones) can fall apart just like that. It's really, really awesome. I only wish that three things had happened. 1) I would have liked to see less basketball in the film. I understand that Odin is a star basketball player, but did it have to be shown all the time? 2) I would have liked to see more of why Desi and Odin love each other so much. I thought that there was a lot more to their relationship in the film than there was in the play, but still. 3) I would have liked more scenes between Desi and Hugo. They shared about two words throughout the film. :/
All in all, I recommend everyone see this. You'll be thinking about it afterwards for awhile.
Grade - B
Will be doing others later. I ♥ you guys!