The Devil Wears Prada (2006) – 7.1

Airplane-worthy fare made fabulous by Meryl Streep’s extraordinary performance.  Streep, looking beautiful for the first time in decades, plays Miranda Priestly, the deliciously sangfroid editor of a Vogue-like fashion mag who whispers orders instead of barking them, and terrorizes the skinny-girl minions who flitter around her in fear.  The googly-eyed Anne Hathaway plays the heroine, Andy Sachs, the “smart, fat girl” who quickly learns the value of a straight perm and some wardrobe-raiding, even as her boyfriend – played by the terrible, monkey-faced Adrian Grenier – looks on disapprovingly (”I don’t care if you were pole-dancing, as long as you did it with some integrity!”).  Unfortunately, Hathaway fails to develop any nuance at all in Andy, and her wholesome naivete quickly becomes a grating bore compared with Streep’s effortless charms.  The final scene sums it up nicely: Andy spots Miranda across a busy street and sends her a toothy grin, which Miranda returns with a pricelessly dismissive glare.  Also features an excellent performance by Emily Blunt as Andy’s rival, and Stanley Tucci as Andy’s fairy godfather.