Movies about the world of fashion would generally be outside the realm of my tastes, but I like Anne Hathaway and we all know, deep down, that this film isn't really about fashion.
Anne plays Andy, a young journalist looking for an in into the writing world. She, of course, ends up with an impressive position under a fashion editor-in-chief known for her power, vision, and moody bitchiness. And, of course, Andy is also totally unfashionable, disinterested, and has no clue as to the variety of famous designers out there.
What follows is the rote tail of the young girl working hard to fit in at her new job, trying to take the opportunity of her situation somewhat seriously, discovering her inner fashionista, and becoming the workaholic protege of her boss, before finding the real Andy within.
Yes, as you might imagine, there's more that goes on in there, but you get the general jist: she's a girl trying to find herself in the realm between fresh-faced college graduate and hardened corporate drone, while surrounded with a bitchy boss, snarky co-workers, irritable friends, a pathetic boyfriend, a scheming lover, and company backbiting. As a satire of the corporate and fashion worlds, there is a certain amount of well-constructed commentary, but for the most part the film is nothing more than your average coming-of-age tale burying in designer lingo.
The cast is sturdy, though the plot is somewhat unimpressive, so that slightly darkens their achievements. Anne Hathaway is as good as always, probably a shock to people only familiar with her Princess Diaries movie work, but she's always been a strong actress, in those films, Havoc, and (so I'm told) Brokeback Mountain, the film that convinced Meryl Streep that she could play the part. Streep is, as always, very strong and delivers a good performance in the role of the strong, manipulative, and cruel coroporate overlord. There are other stand-out performances from Stanley Tucci, finally avoiding the embittered dickhead roles, and Emily Blunt. The one really unfortunate bit of acting was the always-annoying Adrian Grenier, who isn't even interesting in "Entourage," much less as Hathaway's whiny boyfriend.
Otherwise, the film is mainly a shrug, providing simplistic entertainment, though not of any major merit, and delivering light comedy. Really, the interplay between the actors and the strength of Hathaway are the only reasons to watch the film, the rest being of no major signifigance, though it kills the time.
