ased on Lauren Weisberger's best-selling novel about the year she spent as an assistant to Anna Wintour, the arduous editor of Vogue, The Devil Wears Prada offers a wicked look into the top tier of the fashion world. Director David Frankel (HBO’s Sex and the City and Entourage) basically retained the title and premise for the film, but condensed characters and situations from the book to an absolute minimum, mostly for the better.

Anne Hathaway is Andy Sachs, a young recent Northwestern graduate who noves to NYC with her boyfriend Nate (Adrian Grenier) to kickstart her career. She hopes that by serving a year at Runway magazine she’ll be able to direct her career toward any magazine she wants. But, even before she faces Miranda Priestly, the editor of the Vogue-like Runway magazine (played by Meryl Streep with drama and flamboyance) for her job interview, Andy is told, “A million girls would kill for this job.” Andy knows this already: A year at the magazine – the bible of the fashion trade – will be her ticket to her dream job at the New Yorker.

Thrown into unknown territory, she's appalled at Streep's demands but also feels the pull of the high-fashion world, with its endless designer tchachke, glittering soirees and trips to Paris. All she has to do in return is sacrifice her thoughts, needs and desires. She complies because she realizes that Miranda is a brilliant businesswoman who can teach her the trade. But her boyfriend Nate looks at the newly made-over Andy – now clad in Blahnik stilettos and thigh-high leather Chanel boots – with a mix of disgust, as if he suspects the next step in her upgrades will be the latest model of … well, him.

The movie has much going for it: an insider’s look inside the world of fashion, good strong performances by Stanley Tucci and Emily Blunt - who are both believably shallow and terrified when they hear Miranda's voice – and the likable presence of Hathaway. Oh yes, and, Streep as the fabulous villain.