The Devil Wears Prada

A Midwestern journalism graduate lands a job she can barely spell — assistant to Miranda Priestly, the editor of a fashion magazine whose organizational gravity bends entire industries. David Frankel runs it as a workplace comedy that earns its dramatic pivot: the first half plays the culture gap for sharp laughs, the second turns quietly on what the protagonist is becoming by learning to survive it. What makes the film work as a formal object is Streep's performance, which refuses to play the tyrant for camp. Miranda speaks softly, rarely repeats herself, and the camera gives her the room a scene's true power source deserves. Emily Blunt and Stanley Tucci fill the margins with precision.