MOVIE MADNESS: The Devil Wears Prada

Tamara from Traveling with T is here for our first guest piece for MOVIE MADNESS MARCH!  
Read on for her take on The Devil Wears Prada.

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Book to Movie: The Devil Wears Prada 

I, like many of the other women in the world, read the book THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA in the months after it was released. As the saying in the book goes “the job a million girls would die for” this is the book that the women were reading. Sitting at the pool, with my oversized hat and my SPF- I noticed that many of us were reading the book. My roommate, a lover of fashion, was raving about this book.

And, so I got my own copy. And for awhile- I didn’t like it. In fact, I read the whole book and while I did begin to like it- I didn’t just LOVE it. And I never really once thought “oh this would make a good movie!”

But then, a few years go by. And I start seeing the movie trailer on my TV. And, loving Anne Hathaway- I knew I was going to see the movie. Having been some time since I read the book, I decided to give the book another try- just to refresh my mind. A second reading went much better and I was able to sink more deeply in the story- enjoying it on a re-read better than I did on the original.

The night of the movie, me, my brother and my cousin loaded up and went to the theater (the boys felt it was fair to go to the movie with me since I had taken them to all the latest Star Wars movies and they knew ice cream cones would be happening after the movie). So, we went- and from the first line- I was HOOKED. I loved this movie. Emily Blunt, Stanley Tucci provided comic relief and really made their roles stand-out. Anne Hathaway was brilliant as Andrea Sachs. And Meryl… Well she owned the role of Miranda Priestley.

After the movie was over- the boys asked, over ice-cream, if I had liked the movie. And I was “oh yes!” Then came the question: “Was it better than the book?”

Hmmm…

And the answer is “YES!”

Now hear me out- I know now that most book lovers are screaming “THE BOOK IS ALWAYS BETTER.” And while that is a sentiment that I can get behind- actually, I don’t always think so. Sometimes I think the movie and the book are equally good. Sometimes I think that the movie is better. This is one of the cases!

In the book:

Andrea’s boyfriend is a teacher. He’s a patron saint of goodness. Her best friend is an alcoholic. And very sexual. Andi loves them both- and yet, with the demands of her job, the job a million girls want, she struggles to keep up with them and the job. Pretty soon, the job is the only thing that she’s maintaining- and then she has to make a choice: Friends/family/loved ones or the job that a million girls want?

In the movie:

Andrea’s boyfriend is not a teacher. He works in the culinary scene. Her best friend is not an alcoholic who is very sexual and studies Russian Lit- she works at an art gallery. The name of the boyfriend was changed from Alex to Nate. The ending is different on so many levels- Andi quits her job, yes, but in the book- she does it because of a family situation- knowing that she needs to be home. In the movie, it’s more that she’s learned just because a million girls would kill for the job- it’s not right for her. Then the book and movie differ on how Andi and her boyfriend’s relationship continues- in the book, the break-up is final, there is no real talk of them getting back together. In the movie, there is potential for a happy ending for Andi and her boyfriend.

What I think about the changes:

Usually changes kind of bother me. But, the movie version was just so much better to me. It flowed easier. It took some of what I didn’t care for in the book out and created a story that was much easier on the eyes and can be watched over and over again.

The bottom line: This movie wins on so many levels- the cast, Stanley Tucci and his one liners, Emily Blunt and her “You eat carbs” line, and the looks that Meryl Streep would give. Plus the adorable Anne Hathaway- she makes the character of Andrea much better than the book version, IMO.

What do you think? Do you think the book is always better than the movie? What version did you like better?