This critically acclaimed 2008 documentary is effectively a real-life companion piece to “The Devil Wears Prada.” It depicts the reputed real-life basis for Meryl Streep’s hellish-but-hilarious Miranda Priestly, Vogue Magazine‘s editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, as she assembles what turns out to be the thickest, most advertising-laden, issue in the fashion mag’s long history. The British born Wintour’s reputation, of course, precedes her and, not surprisingly, she comes off a lot milder and more human than either her fictional counterpart or the nickname never mentioned in the film, “Nuclear” Wintour, would indicate. It’s notable that we never really see the fashion doyen with abuse-ready underlings, though we do see her in frequent, reasonably polite, conflict with more evenly matched colleagues — particularly strong-willed, doc-stealing creative director Grace Coddington, a fellow Brit and a former model herself, who went into the behind-the scenes world after a car accident affected her appearance.
It’s a pleasant, if less than spectacularly compelling, package as far as it goes. Director R.J. Cutler and cinematographer Robert Richman, who finds himself becoming a part of the film’s story, deliver a visually sharp portrait of the candy-colored world of high-end fashion and the whiter-than-white Vogue offices. On the other hand, though it admits she’s not what anyone would consider a warm and fuzzy presence, this comes across very much like the film Anna Wintour would like you to see about her. I can’t help feeling that Cutler’s film was made so that a darker, more honest, and more interesting film was not.
