thePeanutBloggery

Billed as this year’s sleeper hit, The Devil Wears Prada marched into theaters on a relatively low shoe budget and did better business than most–if not all–of the other studio releases this past summer. Now it’s made its way onto DVD.

Box office numbers aside, the movie deserves the recognition received by moviegoers and critics alike. Anne Hathaway is perfectly endearing as unwitting college grad-turned-administrative assistant Andy Sachs, and Meryl Streep all but steals the film as Runway Magazine’s grande dame, Miranda Priestly. Steely and seemingly unfeeling, Streep plays the top fashion editor with the remorseless cruelty of a hitman, and the emotional minutia of her performance attracted a lot of attention, even some Oscar buzz.

Sure the plot is cliché, but it’s highly enjoyable cliché. Director David Frankel knew what he was getting into when he signed on, taking the beach read attitude of the book from which the movie was adapted and translating it to the big screen. And with A-listers Hathaway and Streep in the cast, The Devil Wear’s Prada eschews banal chick flick status for that of a well-produced guilty pleasure.

Other DVDs released this week:
World Trade Center
Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Material Girls
Barnyard: The Original Party Animals