Book vs. Movie: The Devil Wears Prada

Hello my lovely readers!
I recently wrote a post on Lauren Weisbergers novel The Devil Wears Prada and on how much I – unfortunately – disliked it. Let’s see how the movie adaptation holds up in comparison!

 

The Plot:
Andy Sachs lands her first magazine job – at not just any magazine! She gets to work at Runway one of the most famous fashion magazine in the world. However, her boss Miranda is basically the devil. Andy has to survive one year in this job, but will she be able to make?

 

Book vs. Movie:
In case you haven’t read my book review, let me summarize real quick what I disliked about the novel: It was super repetitive, not only in motives but also in language. None of the characters had any depth. Despite Andy being the heroine of the story, I can not relate to her or even like her. She’s annoying, unprofessional and ungrateful. Miranda is depicted as extremely one dimensional which really did not help the story.
In light of these points of criticism, I was surprised how good the movie turned out to be. 
First of all, Miranda. The main antagonist is portrayed by the marvellous Meryl Streep. She could play a sack of potatoes and still be absolutely wonderful. So it is no surprise that her interpretation of Miranda is by far more interesting than the character from the novel. She seems more complex and to some point even relatable.
Anne Hathaway does a decent job with playing Andy Sachs. She is definitely less annoying than the written character but unfortunately she’s no match for Meryl Streep. In the scenes the two actresses have together, Hathaway’s performance seems a little pale in comparison.
When thinking about those repetitions Weisberger included in the novel, I have to say those do work out in a movie, but certainly not in writing. I remember a nice scene with Andy being depicted in different outfits doing the same thing – it took a few seconds, you get the picture, nicely done. However, in the novel the umpteenth description of getting coffee is simply tiring and boring. Furthermore, I’m glad they cut some of the side plots as for example the story about Andy’s best friend also lacked depth in the book. It wasn’t included in the adaptation and you really don’t miss it.
One final shout out to Stanley Tucci who is one more reason to check out this film!

It may not be the best movie out there but The Devil Wears Prada works far better on screen than it does on paper. I would never ever re-read Lauren Weisberger’s book (or anything else she wrote) but would re-watch the movie any time!

 

Did you read the book? Watch the movie? Let me know in the comments what you think!

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